Digimon X
by DigiScanner-Shonen
Summary: A group of gamers are trapped in the new online RPG Digimon X! Will they ever get back home? Or even survive their new environment? DISCONTINUED R
1. The Draw

Disclaimer: I own none of the Digimon that appear throughout the entirety of this story. But the characters I've created, Tucker and his friends, are mine. You can't have them. So there. The different stories will be told through a first-person account. This one, being Tucker's.  
  
Digimon X: Game 1-The Draw  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
One thought was on my mind while I ran through the streets of my home: WHY DO I SLEEP IN ON SCHOOLDAYS? Running past the drug store, through the park and down an alleyway. My usual route to school. Don't ask me why I take it, I just do.  
  
Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Tucker Takeyama, 7th grade Class C. I live with my mom and grandpa above an electronics store, the Console Command. Don't look at me, Grandpa came up with that name. It's quite a hotspot now, what with the world becoming more and more involved in electronics. Especially with the kids, like me, who are all into Digimon, monsters you raise and then battle with on the Net.  
  
Oops! Almost forgot. I stop and feel around my backpack. Yep, still there. My D-Card with my Digimon's data. I raised some kind of strange Digimon. I think it had some sort of connection with Hybrid Digimon? Well, its name is Flamon and it's been my best bud since my mom got it for me for a birthday present.  
  
I rush towards the school. I check my watch, just a few seconds left. I stop at my locker, grab my gym strip and head for the change room. As I get changed, the bell goes.  
  
"Nuts!"  
  
I enter the gym and meet my teacher, Ms. Kato. And of course, she riles me again for not being on time. Is it my fault I'm late for school because I'm a late sleeper? Don't answer that.  
  
We head outside to play some soccer. I play forward. The game goes pretty fast to me. Days usually go slow, but today I wanted it to be over fast. I heard they had some kind of contest down at the new arcade, Gaming HQ. The contest was a draw and the winners would get to demo the new online RPG, Digimon X. I hadn't signed up yet, so I wanted to get there quick.  
  


* * *

  
The day dragged on, yet seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. I stop at my locker again and while I grab my old baseball cap and goggles, I see a shadow pass over me. Not again.  
  
"Hey, Takeyama," the shadow calls out.  
  
"Howsa Greg?" I say as I turn around and face a bulky, red-haired, dark- eyed 8th grader. "Listen, I gotta go so can you skip the beating today?"  
  
"Nope," he says as he grabs my collar, "This is for yesterday when you pulled that quick-getaway on me."  
  
"I did that? Maybe it was somebody else."  
  
"Nope, I could tell it was you with the hat and goggles," he says as he punches me and my daily beating begins.  
  


* * *

  
15 minutes later, I'm at Gaming Illusions after Greg thrashed me. Again. And I had to drag my weary self to the arcade. Someday I'm gonna get that guy.  
  
"Here," I groan as I hand the cashier the entry slip, "Tucker Takeyama with Flamon."  
  
"Thank you," he says, "The draw will be tomorrow morning at 10am."  
  
"Great, I'll be there at 9," I tell him as I head back home, holding my stomach. I hope Mom gets the ice pack out again.  
  


* * *

  
Back at my home, I come in through the doors and Grandpa spots me while counting the register's money.  
  
"Laura, Tucker's back and he needs the you-know-what," he calls.  
  
"Thanks, Grandpa," I mutter.  
  
Mom comes rushing in with the ice pack and rants me on about how I shouldn't be picking fights with older boys. But I didn't! Greg just beats me for the heck of it. I just prefer not to fight back. I head up to my room, with clothes on the floor, homework all over my desk, and my computer left on. Again. When will I ever learn to turn off the computer after I'm done?  
  
I open the Digimon Hero program and place Flamon's D-Card into the card reader. His data is pulled up in a minute. It shows this:  
  
Digimon: Flamon Lvl: 10 Partner: Tucker Takeyama Digivolutions: None Battling Record: 10-30  
  
I really don't like me winning ¼ of my battles and not having Flamon Digivolve yet. I'm hoping he'll Digivolve soon and I'll really start winning. I wonder who he'll Digivolve into  
  


* * *

  
"Tucker! Come help Grandpa! We've got customers!"  
  
"All right! I'm coming Mom!" I head down the stairs to help some people. They're a father-son duo. The old man has jet-black hair, brown eyes, glasses and a friendly smile with a respectable brown suit. The boy however, is a different story. He wears a blue bandana with white stripes on top, has long hair at the front, like a girl's, dark blue eyes, a "whatever" look, a dark coloured long collared T-shirt, tan shorts with a pouch built in, white socks and blue Velcro shoes.  
  
"Hello, I'm Mr. Matsuhara. My son was wondering if you carry the Digimon Hero game?" The man asks.  
  
"Sure do. I play it myself," I tell Mr. Matsuhara as I direct him to the game aisle. He picks up the game, pays Grandpa and leaves. The son looks like he's a bit embarrassed, like he doesn't want anyone to know he plays Digimon. He just looks at me with a "what are you looking at" look as he leaves.  
  
I had this strange feeling as I saw him. The feeling you get like when you know you've met someone who'll change you forever. Or maybe the feeling was from my anticipation of the Digimon X draw. Whatever it was, I shook it off and went back to my room.  
  
The rest of the day passed quickly. I helped customers, we had Mom's spaghetti for dinner, I played Digimon Hero and got Flamon to level up once or twice and I went to bed, waiting for the next day.  
  


* * *

  
I woke up quite early that day, as it was Saturday. With the anticipation of the draw approaching, I played Digimon Hero and levelled Flamon up again. The hours flew by and I told Grandpa I couldn't help him with the store since today was the draw for Digimon X. Grandpa excused me from work, but I wouldn't get pay that day. I got dressed, put on my hat and goggles, grabbed Flamon and bolted for Gaming Illusions.  
  
I arrived, but was met with a large crowd. As I tried to pass through it, I bumped into someone.  
  
"Ah! Sorry," I began as the person I bumped into turned around and my jaw hanged. She had brown hair tied into a ponytail at the bottom, brown eyes, a turtleneck raglan sleeved yellow shirt, dark jeans, white runners and a sweet smile.  
  
"Oh, no problem. I'm Leah Orimizu," she said as she shook my hand, "Who are you?"  
  
"Oh, me? I'm.........ah, er.........um, what was it again.........oh yes. Tucker," I said as I mentally slapped myself.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Tucker. I take it you're here for the draw, as well?"  
  
"Draw? Oh, yeah.........the draw."  
  
"Who's your partner? I've got a Labramon."  
  
"Um, mine's a Flamon." Before I could further inquire where Leah came from and what her interests was, the announcement came on.  
  
"Attention all Gamers, we are now going to present the draw. The winners will get to test-drive our new game, DIGIMON X!!" The announcers said as the whole arcade went in an uproar.  
  
"I hope I win," Leah said, "I just started playing with Digimon a month ago."  
  
"Yeah, Leah, I hope I win too." I said as I restrained myself from going bonkers. Even if I didn't win, I had a new friend to spend time with here.  
  
"And now the winners. Will you please come up to the VR pods when your name is called," the announcers stated, "Here we go. Winner 1...Jake Kinochi!"  
  
"Yes!" A boy with blond hair, blue eyes, a purple short-sleeved sweater with a zigzag design going around it in red, long white pants and dark shoes said as he went up.  
  
"Winner 2...Leah Orimizu!"  
  
"Yay! Tucker, can you believe it?" Leah practically screamed in my ear as she left me to go up with Jake. Good luck, Leah, I thought.  
  
"Winner 3...Erin Hiwame!"  
  
A girl with long red hair, friendly-looking green eyes, white and pink shirts, striped yellow skirt, long socks and purple shoes go up with the others.  
  
"Winner 4...Charlie Matsuhara!"  
  
I recognised the boy from yesterday in my store as he went up, trying to keep up his "I don't care" look, but looked like he was failing as he was starting to crack a big grin.  
  
"And our final winner,"  
  
Jake, Erin, Charlie and Leah. Winners who would get to experience the Digimon X game first. The chances for me were astronomical. Oh, well. At least I tried. Maybe I could go back home and level up Flamon for when the game would  
  


* * *

  
"...Tucker Takeyama!"  
  
As I heard my name I spun on my heel. And did the only thing I could think of at the moment to fully express my ecstaticness.  
  
I screamed.  
  
"YYYEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"  
  
I rushed up to join Leah. I could see she was happy I made it up here, too.  
  
"Way to go, Tucker! Maybe we could team up inside the game?"  
  
I was waiting to hear those words from her. Before I could reply, an attractive lady came up and asked, "Do you have your D-Cards?"  
  
We flashed our D-Cards at her and she took them and placed them into holders attached to the pod. "Please step into the Digimon X pod."  
  
The 5 of us headed into the pod. I couldn't wait for the game to start. I started talking to the others.  
  
"So, we all won. How do you all feel?"  
  
Jake said great, Leah said really happy, Erin was ecstatic, but Charlie said nothing. I could tell I wasn't going to like Charlie much. From outside we heard some people shout stuff. Commands, I think. The pod began to brighten up. And we saw the game begin.  
  
We saw the Digital World on a global map as we all chose an area to begin at. A beginner area, if you will. The demo area. Well, Jake, Erin, Leah and I agreed. Charlie continued his silence. We were taken to the area and could see it materialise all around us. But no sooner had we taken a step to move the area that the image began to fade, like static. Soon, it disappeared.  
  
"Hey! What's going on?" Jake said aloud, "We won the draw and we barely get to play?"  
  
"That stinks!" Erin added.  
  
"I know, but...TUCKER!" Leah yelled. She looked pale.  
  
"What? I know this blows, but why are you staring at me like that and pointing to my..." I asked and followed her finger. I saw what made her yell. My legs were breaking apart into tiny pieces! Like they were being erased in the game! I looked around and saw the same thing happening to the others. And it was moving fast.  
  
"I don't think this is part of the game!" Erin blurted out. The erasing effect was moving to her chest now.  
  
"Well guys, nice knowing you!" Jake said as his erasing headed up to his neck and he faded into nothingness.  
  
"JAKE!" Leah screamed as she, too, was taken by the erasing.  
  
"And we didn't even get to..." Erin was left hanging as she was erased.  
  
"I'm not sure this was the original plan! Charlie? What do you think?" I asked Charlie. He started to reply, but was erased. And I was next.  
  
Great! I try to play the hot new Digimon game, only to be erased out of existence and with 4 other kids I don't even know. Mom and Grandpa will be so worried when I don't come back. My Digimon record will be uncompleted! Well, at least my teachers won't yell at me for being late to school again because I'll never be going back!  
  
I gulped as the erasing moved to my neck. If there was an afterlife, I was about to find out! The last of my body was erased and I was gone.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  


* * *

  
Well, what do you think? I hope you all like it. Will Tucker and the others survive? What will happen back in the Real World without them? And why did this happen? Find out next time on Digimon X! Oh, and please review! I'm hoping to make this a weekly series. 


	2. Ittsy Bittsy Dogukumon

Disclaimer: I own none of the Digimon characters that will appear for the duration of the story. If you liked the first chapter, that's good. Chapter 1 was kind of like part 1, and this is part 2, so Tucker's perspective will continue. But first, let's see what happened outside the VR pod when the gang disappeared...  
  
"All right," a pretty woman said after closing the door to the VR pod, "let's start the game for these guys."  
  
She started pushing some buttons and the pod began to hum and glow to show it was in use. Some kids were disappointed that they didn't win the draw and were all enviously whispering.  
  
"Man, those kids are lucky," one boy said.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder what it's like?" a girl asked.  
  
"Maybe they'll tell us," another boy contributed.  
  
The pretty woman was monitoring the kids in the game through a small camera in the pods.  
  
"So far, so good," she said. She sounded doubtful. She knew that this game was already tested and approved for public use, but there was a rumor going on that there was something weird about the game. Like it was a world all it's own...  
  
Something began happening to the pod. Lightning seemed to generate from it. And it gave off a weird sound. Like screaming from inside.  
  
She had to stop the game. She tried to shut it down, but it didn't work. She tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. She called a few people to help her, but it didn't work. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and the pod was normal again.  
  
She immediately opened the door to tell the kids sorry about that, but was only greeted with an empty room.  
  
"What happened?" a boy asked.  
  
"Um, we're going to have to close the place early today. Sorry!" the woman apologized as she and some other monitors began to push the kids out of the arcade. What were the parents of the missing kids going to think? Were the rumors about the game really right? And would she lose her job?  
  
Digimon X: Game 2-Ittsy Bittsy Dokugumon  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
The first thing I'm going to do is open my eyes. Y'know, to see the surroundings of death. If I was dead, I wanted to know what the afterlife looked like. Here we go.  
  
I opened my eyes and was greeted with a blue sky with white clouds drifting by. Judging from that, I was on my back. I got up and began to look over my body. Amazing! I don't have any scratches or otherwise. Was this death?  
  
I looked to the side and saw a small boy with a short-sleeved purple sweater and a red zigzag pattern going around it, white pants and blond hair, turned over on his stomach. I headed over to him and turned him over.  
  
"Hey kid," I asked him, "you okay?"  
  
Wait, kid wasn't his name. And he looked familiar. What was his name? Now I remember, it was Jake.  
  
Jake? Wait a second, Jake was the name of one of the Digimon X winners! Then, there was me, Jake, Erin, Charlie and...Leah! I took a look at our surroundings. It was the area we had picked to go to back in the Real World!  
  
The area we were in was decorated with trees to the right. We must be at the edge of it, then. The left of me was just a kind of desert. Cool! Strange, but cool. Jake managed to wake up and I filled him in on my theory.  
  
"Then if we're here," Jake said, "then Leah, Charlie and Erin must be somewhere around this area!"  
  
"I guess they're in there," I told Jake as I pointed to the forest, "Here's my plan, we get everyone together and then we figure out what to do after that."  
  
"It's better than nothing," Jake said as we headed into the forest.  
  
It seems to be pretty dark in this place. Everywhere you can here sounds of creatures growling. The treetops covered the sky and made the place dark as Jake and I called out for our lost friends. As we covered more and more territory, it became darker and darker. I couldn't see just where I was going and...  
  
"Oof!"  
  
"Watch it!"  
  
"Sorry, sir!" I apologized. It was dark and I had to squint a bit to see the person who I bumped into. He had lots of wild red hair, horns, a red vest, long ears, giant gloves and appeared like a human animal. It looked familiar. I knew I saw it before somewhere...  
  
"Excuse me," the creature asked, "I'm looking for someone by the name of Takeyama, I think? Do you know this guy?"  
  
Takeyama was my last name! How did he know? Unless, he was...  
  
"Flamon?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
I reached out and touched the creature. He felt real. I wasn't hallucinating. This was real! And he was mine! My own, real Digimon!  
  
"FLAMON!" I called as I took him into a big hug, "I can't believe it! You're actually real! And you know me! That means I'm your partner! This is great! My very own personal--!"  
  
"Um, Tucker?"  
  
"What Jake?" upset that he interrupted my happy fit.  
  
"Look," he pointed.  
  
I sweatdropped when I saw Flamon turning blue.  
  
"Sorry!" I said as I let go of him.  
  
"S'allright."  
  
"Hey Flamon, have you seen any other kids around here? Besides me and him, of course."  
  
"Come to think of it, I saw a girl with red hair back there. She was following me when I mentioned your name to her."  
  
"That's Erin!"  
  
"She's probably around here somewhere." Flamon told me.  
  
Erin took that opportunity to jog up.  
  
"Man, whew," she said in-between gasps, "you run really fast. Huh? Tucker? Jake?"  
  
"Erin, that you?" Jake asked.  
  
"Yeah it's me. What are you two doing here?"  
  
"We're looking for you. Now that we found you, we've gotta find Charlie and Leah," I answered, "Remember how we were all in that VR pod?"  
  
"Yeah. I also remember us being deleted," she said, "and I think I saw Leah a few minutes ago."  
  
"Why didn't you go get her?"  
  
"Well, this guy," she motioned to Flamon, "wanted to get to you no matter what, Tucker."  
  
"Eh heh," Flamon laughed nervously, putting a hand behind his head.  
  
"Then I guess we go back for Leah. Let's go!" I said as I ran off to find her. I liked Leah. I hoped she was okay. She had better be all right. If one of those monsters found her, and she had no Digimon, she'd be done for.  
  
Jake and Erin were behind me as Flamon lead the way. It was kind of hard to follow him since he darted here and there sometimes. I did my best to keep up with my new partner, even though I wasn't quite as fast as a Digimon.  
  
We found Leah a few minutes after chasing Flamon. We briefed her on everything and she took a minute to draw it all in.  
  
"So if we're here with all the Digimon, and us being broken into little bits was being transported here, then we're actually inside Digimon X!" Leah said as she looked down at her feet, "Tucker, you have a Digimon partner. So if Flamon was on your D-Card back in the Real World when that lady put our D-Cards in the game, my Digimon, as well as Erin, Jake and Charlie's, must be here, too. If we can find all of them first, we'll think up what we do next. Come on, let's find Charlie."  
  
We continued through the woods as I repeated what Leah said in my mind. We were in a video game? And we all had partners here. After we found them and Charlie, we could find out what to do next. I was just happy I had my own, real Digimon. And that I was here with Leah. If things got rough, I could protect her. Maybe even score some points, heh heh.  
  
A loud yell was heard as a figure dashed toward us. It was a boy. Charlie. But who was that behind him? A spider? Wait, make that a LARGE spider. A spider Digimon.  
  
Spider Digimon? Who was it, again, I asked myself referring back to the Digimon Encyclopedia in my Digimon Hero program. Now I remember. Dokugumon, a viral type insectoid Digimon. Whoever gets caught in her web is in a real sticky situation. Her attacks are Poison Thread and Poison Cobweb.  
  
Charlie met up with us and began to speak, until Dokugumon came up and noticed all of together.  
  
"Oh, how nice! 6 little bites tonight! Maybe I'll get some friends to come over..."  
  
"The only thing you're getting is a bad case of burns!" I shouted, "Get 'er Flamon!"  
  
"Right!" Flamon leapt into action.  
  
"Flame Fist!" He cried as his fist became fiery and he punched Dokugumon.  
  
"Hah! You call that a bad case of burns? Try this! Poison Thread!"  
  
Dokugumon fired her attack at Flamon. He managed to dodge and try a Flame Fist again.  
  
"I'll stop you for good, this time!" she shouted, "Poison Cobweb!"  
  
A purple cobweb shot from her mouth and enwrapped Flamon. He was trapped!  
  
"I'll save you for dessert! And now, for the main course!" she said as she inched towards us.  
  
"Flamon! No!" I cried out, "You've gotta get out of there!"  
  
"I'm...trying..." he responded.  
  
No! I forgot Dokugumon's attacks are also poisonous! They're sapping Flamon's strength! I was going to be some spider's dinner in a giant video game and my only protection was losing health! No! I couldn't let it end like this. I grabbed a nearby stick and began whacking Dokugumon.  
  
"I'm warning you! Stay back, you ugly spider!" I shouted, more confident then I felt as I whacked at her, "I squish vermin like you back home and flush you down the toilet! Don't come closer!"  
  
"Oh? How do you like me now?" She said as she leapt at me.  
  
"AAAHHHH!!! FLAMON!!"  
  
Flamon must've been watching all this because there was a giant blast of flame from where he was. A bright light flashed and just as Dokugumon was about to make me her dinner, I was grabbed.  
  
"Flamon! You saved me!" But I was talking to the wrong person. This Digimon was tall, proud and had lots of red and white armor on. He had really long blond hair and black undergarments. This wasn't Flamon! It was...  
  
"Agunimon?"  
  
The Digimon nodded and began fighting Dokugumon. This Digimon was a hybrid Digimon that my partner was connected to! Flamon had Digivolved! Into Agunimon, a mysterious new Digimon! AWESOME!  
  
"I'm gonna turn up the heat. Hope you can stand it! Pyro Darts!" Agunimon yelled as he fired several flaming darts at Dokugumon.  
  
The giant spider managed to shake it off and attack again. "Poison Thread!"  
  
"No you don't!" My partner said as he kicked Dokugumon in the head, "Now it's time to finish you off!"  
  
He began spinning in a circular motion and generated a giant whirlpool of fire!  
  
"Pyro Tornado!" He yelled as he launched the attack and Dokugumon was deleted.  
  
Whoa. My partner was that powerful? Cool! Agunimon De-Digivolved and I went to give him another hug.  
  
"Flamon! That was so cool! You finally Digivolved! And into a powerful Digimon nonetheless! I knew all my training would pay off!"  
  
"Tucker...can't breathe..." Flamon told me.  
  
"Oop! Sorry again," I said as I let go. As I did, a small light glew in front of me. I held out my hand to touch it and it immediately materialized. It had a square screen in a black circle at the top, with a red rim, two silver buttons going diagonally down, a red grip and a kind of large silver dial. On the top right side of this mechanical piece was a kind of empty spot where something presumably fit. This was amazing. It was my own DigiVice. Then, that official made me Flamon's partner!  
  
"Tucker, is you were so cool when you attacked Dokugumon!" Jake comments.  
  
"You were just amazing, too, Flamon!" Erin adds, patting Flamon on the back.  
  
"That was quite amazing, Tucker," Leah says as she flashed me a smile.  
  
"Hmph!" I think that was Charlie. Probably his way of showing thanks, I guess. Oh, well. If he can't admit it openly, that's his problem.  
  
"I guess this means we're official partners," I said to Flamon.  
  
"Yeah. I look forward to working with you, Tucker," Flamon said as he, this time, gave me a big hug.  
  
"I guess our next move is to find your guys' partners. If Flamon's mine, then I'm sure you guys will find yours pretty soon. Come on, let's go look!"  
  
"Yeah!" Jake, Erin and Leah raised their arms in agreement. Charlie just continued his quietness.  
  
I'm trapped in a video game after being drawn into it. I have absolutely no idea where I am in it. I'm trying to be brave since I'm the only one with a Digimon. But I just survived a Dokugumon attack, I've got my new partner here with me and I have some other kids to survive with. I suddenly feel brave. And I think everything's going to be alright.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
So, what do you think? Yes, Flamon and Agunimon are hybrids from season 4, but Flamon's a Rookie, so in my fic, that makes Agunimon his Champion form. My universe, my rules. R&R please! Next chapter's gonna be better! Promise! 


	3. Drill On, Drimogemon!

Disclaimer: Once again, I own none of the characters of Digimon that will appear. Except for the people I created, of course. Please keep reviewing for Digimon X! I really need some more people to read this, to keep the story interesting to all of you.  
  
Digimon X: Game 3-Drill On, Drimogemon!  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
We're walking through the forest. Probably aimlessly. Why do I follow these guys?  
  
HE has out only protection. HE being Tucker Takeyama, our fearless "leader". The idiot still doesn't realise that we're really stuck here. He's leading us through the forest filled with Digimon with some interesting levels. He's got our only defense, a Digimon he's partners with, a Flamon he trained himself. He has a stupid smile on his face, like he knows what he's doing.  
  
I can't stand him doing that.  
  
Why do I follow him? Because he's got a Digimon of his own that just took down a Dokugumon about an hour ago.  
  
And he saved my life.  
  
I can't believe I'm indebted to someone who's only thought right now is to have fun in a game we're trapped in. But I'm going to repay my debt to him. I can't stand being in his debt.  
  
We're a small group, Tucker, our "leader", Jake, the youngest of us, Erin, Leah and me, Charlie. We've been taken into the new online RPG game Digimon X after winning a draw to be the first to try the game. We're stuck in the starter area, a large forest.  
  
Leah thinks that since Tucker now has Flamon as his partner, we all have Digimon somewhere in the game. After we get all of them, we'll figure out what to do next. What I'm thinking? Get the heck out of the game!  
  
My partner is a Bearmon. I raised it after my dad got me that Digimon Hero program from this electronics store. I got it up to a reasonably high level in less the 5 hours straight. It's pretty powerful for such a little Rookie.  
  
My dad spoils me. Probably after he and Mom divorced, he wanted to gain my favour over Mom. I live with him in an apartment overlooking a nice park in Osaka. I go to mom's place every weekend or so to check in with her. I love Dad a lot, but I wish he'd try and stop trying to make me forget Mom by spoiling me. I kept out of contact with other kids because I felt that the divorce was my fault and that I was saving others from harm on my account.  
  
When I heard about the Digimon X draw that weekend in Mom's neighbourhood, I decided to enter to really see Bearmon in action. I had kept quiet all this time because I didn't feel like conversing with the others. I just wanted to play the game to forget my troubles with my parents. Now I just want to go home. Ironic that the one thing I wanted made me change my mind.  
  
Our trek continues as Tucker and Flamon blaze the trail we follow. The trees are getting pretty high now. As they get higher, the forest seems to get darker.  
  
"Ooh, I don't like the dark," I can hear Jake say.  
  
"Me neither," Erin says, "Here Jake, you can hold my hand."  
  
I feel Jake's hand touch mine. Part of me wants to brush Jake off, but he's just a little kid, scared. I decide to humour him this time.  
  
"Tucker, you know where we're going?" Leah asks.  
  
"Sure!" Tucker replies, "Absolutely. Maybe. Kind of. A little. No. No I don't."  
  
Great, we're lost.  
  
"But don't worry," I hear him say, "We'll find our way out of this area in no time at all."  
  
"Yeah, Tucker's right," Erin says, "Let's just take our minds off of being lost and play a little game!"  
  
We're following a kid who's got our only weapon that doesn't know where the heck he's going and now we get to play a little game to pass the time.  
  
Yippie.  
  
"All right. How about I Spy?" Erin suggests, "I spy with my little eye, something that is purple and red."  
  
"That's me, Erin," Jake says.  
  
"Ok, you're turn, Jake."  
  
"I spy with my little eye, something that is fiery."  
  
"That's Flamon," Leah tells him.  
  
"Right! You're turn Leah."  
  
"I spy with my little eye..."  
  
"Something that is glowing?" are Tucker's words.  
  
"No! It's something..." Leah says as she turns her eyes upwards and sees a small village, high in the trees.  
  
They got bridges, torches, everything. Little huts are built on different trees. There are up to 3 houses on the same level. There are 4 levels and about 25 different trees.  
  
"Cool!" Erin says.  
  
"Yeah!" Jake agrees.  
  
"Uh oh," Tucker says, "here comes the welcome wagon!"  
  
A group of Tentomon fly down to us.  
  
"State your name and business in the Forest Village!" A Tentomon says.  
  
"Yeah, hi," Leah says as she steps in front of us, "we're, um, kind of lost and we need to get our bearings. Think you can help us?"  
  
"Come with us," another Tentomon says, "we'll see what we can do for you."  
  
"But how do we get up there?" Erin asks, "we're kind of big and you're so...so..."  
  
"Small," Tucker finishes.  
  
"This way please," as a Tentomon smiles at us. Or sort of smiles.  
  
We march to one of the village trees. A Tentomon raps it 4 times and a kind of door opens.  
  
"Step inside, we'll meet you at the top," the first Tentomon that spoke tells us as he and his group fly away.  
  
"What do we do?" Jake asks.  
  
"I guess we go inside and find out," Tucker replies.  
  
We all step inside the tree. It's quite spacious, actually.  
  
"Now what?" Erin wonders.  
  
The tree door shuts.  
  
"Um, we're gonna find out in a second," Leah tells her with a bit of panic in her voice.  
  
There's a sudden woosh feeling inside you, like you're light a feather. Then everything rushes past you as you fly upwards. Fast. Fast enough to make you fly around in all sorts of directions positions.  
  
"WWWOOOAAAHHH!!!!!" we all yell as we tumble upwards.  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick," Erin screamed.  
  
"Right behind you," I silently mutter.  
  
There's a strange sound as a door opens and we fly right into it. We land in a tangled pile on a platform. We're all disoriented as we try and untangle ourselves. As I slowly get out, the Tentomon from earlier greets me.  
  
"We hope you had a pleasant trip up here," they tell us.  
  
"Erg," Flamon mutters, "That was weird."  
  
"Tell me about it," Erin says as she quickly puts a hand in front of her mouth and runs off to the side of the platform and...  
  
Well, let's just say I hoped no Digimon were passing by underneath at that time.  
  
"We've received notice from one of the residents of Forest Village. He's looking for someone. Come," the Digimon tell us.  
  
We follow the ladybug Digimon to the second level of the village. I look down as we move up. We're so high up. I get nervous and stop for a second. Erin comes and tells me we've got to keep moving. I comply and we continue to walk.  
  
We enter a hut and find a nice little place inside. Table, chairs, a bed and a shelf are among the objects inside. A Digimon scooters into the scene.  
  
He looks like a kid bear with grey fur and walks on two legs. He wears a blue baseball cap backwards which says BEARS on it. He's got a belt that wraps around his belly diagonally and several little belts around each paw. He's got some red war paint on. I recognise who it is instantly.  
  
"Hello, I'm Bearmon," the Digimon tells us, "Welcome to my humble ab..."  
  
He pauses and pushes past the others. He comes straight to me. I lower so I can look him straight in the eye. He looks shocked, yet joyous at the same time.  
  
"You are..." he starts.  
  
"Yeah, I think I am," I say to him.  
  
"...just in time for lunch!" Bearmon finishes.  
  
We all fall over.  
  
"I cooked up a delicious new soup that I need someone to try," Bearmon says as he heads for the kitchen and comes back with a large plate with bowls of soup, "I'd like you to try it."  
  
"Sure," I shrug as I grab a bowl of soup and start drinking.  
  
It's not bad. I nod to the others and they all take a bowl and start slurping. I take a seat and Tucker starts talking to Bearmon.  
  
"It's pretty good," he says, "for a Digimon recipe."  
  
"Very very good!" Erin adds.  
  
"Excellent!" Leah contributes.  
  
"Can I have seconds?" Jake asks.  
  
"Sure! I made enough soup for everybody," Bearmon says as he takes our bowls and fills them up again.  
  
"So, Bearmon," Erin says, "why have you been looking for someone?"  
  
"To try my soup, of course. Actually," Bearmon says as he hands back our bowls, "there's been a recent problem here in the forest."  
  
"What kind of problem?" Leah wonders.  
  
"Well, a Digimon recently came to the forest. He's been re-routing the water supply for the whole area. If we don't stop him, the whole forest will go dehydrated!" Bearmon tells, "And you know how a forest depends on water. No one here is brave enough to try and drive away the Digimon. I want to, but I'm too small. That's why I need your help! The entire forest depends on you!"  
  
"No brainier!" Tucker says, "Of course we'll help! After all, it's just probably part of the game."  
  
"Game? What game?"  
  
"Well, you see," Tucker starts.  
  
I quickly slap a hand over Tucker's mouth.  
  
"Sshhh!" I tell him.  
  
"Oh well. Off to the river then!" Bearmon says as he heads out the door, "Follow me!"  
  
We follow him as he raps the tree several times and another door opens. He instantly disappears down the tree.  
  
"Not again," Erin says.  
  
If I'm right, I have no choice, I thought. This Bearmon could be my partner. I had to help him. Even if it meant the others couldn't join me.  
  
I jump into the tree and head down after Bearmon. I fall down fast through the tunnel. Just as I'm about to hit ground, a kind of cushion breaks my fall. Weird.  
  
I run out and meet Bearmon, who's starting to run to the place he was talking about. I follow him, even though I hear the others fall behind me.  
  
We run through the forest. He's pretty fast for a little Digimon. A few minutes later we're at the river. It's a large run of water in the middle of the forest. A Digimon's drilling a large hole near the river, which is starting to divert water to it. He looks like a large purple mole with a drill for a nose.  
  
I go through the Digimon Encyclopedia in my mind to try and identify the Digimon. Leesee, purple mole, purple mole, purple mole...  
  
It comes to me now. It's a Drimogemon. A Champion level, Data type Animal Digimon. His drill is a powerful tool for both construction and destruction. His attacks include Iron Drill Spin and Mole's Claw.  
  
"Hm? Who dares try and stop a Drimogemon from doing it's work?"  
  
"We do, you fat mole!" Bearmon says angrily, "Why can't you just drill somewhere else?"  
  
"Because I drill where I want. This spot just so happens to be near water and I get thirsty doing all this drilling."  
  
"Don't you see that your hole will run the river dry and the whole area will die?" Bearmon asked.  
  
"Not my problem. When the water runs out, it runs out. Deal with it."  
  
"Arg! I won't let you endanger my home!" Bearmon says as he charges for Drimogemon.  
  
"So you wanna play, huh? Iron Drill Spin!" Drimogemon's drill starts spinning and he charges for Bearmon. It grazes Bearmon's right arm and he's weakened.  
  
"Bearmon!" I yell.  
  
"I'm fine! But he won't be!" Bearmon tells me, "Rah! Bear's Claw!"  
  
"Mole's Claw!" Drimogemon's claw slashes Bearmon savagely.  
  
"No! Bearmon!"  
  
"I won't give up! Bear Claw!"  
  
"Mole Claw!"  
  
This continues for a minute as Bearmon gets bruised badly each time. I can't watch this. Bearmon needs help. Blast! Where's Tucker and Flamon when you need them?  
  
"Charlie!" I hear Leah yell. I see them all running.  
  
"Hang on, Bearmon! Help's on the way!" I yell to Bearmon.  
  
"Let's even the odds! Flamon! Digivolve!" Tucker takes out his DigiVice.  
  
"Right!" Flamon says as he prepares to Digivolve. Nothing happens.  
  
"Darn it! Digivolve!" Tucker says as he holds out his DigiVice towards Flamon, "Digivolve like last time!"  
  
"Guys, do try and figure this out soon, 'cause Bearmon's almost completely beaten up!" Erin points.  
  
No! Bearmon! I turn and see Bearmon lying on his back. I rush over to him.  
  
"Come on, Bearmon! You can't go yet! We only just met," I tell him as I feel something warm come from my eyes, "What about the forest? You got to protect it! And that soup! It's so good, I want some more! How about after you beat this guy you make me some?"  
  
The light from Bearmon's eyes begin to fade.  
  
"NO! BEARMON! Don't go yet!" I grip him tightly and let the tears flow, "You can't go yet! Not now!"  
  
I stare at Drimogemon and feel an intense rush of anger.  
  
"You! You caused this! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!!" I yell as I rush towards him, my fist clenched.  
  
"Iron Drill Spin!" Drimogemon charges towards me and his attack grazes my side.  
  
"Charlie!" the group all yell.  
  
I grip my side. It hurts. I fall over and see Bearmon. He saw this and he's not pleased. He gets up and I see tears from his eyes.  
  
"You threaten the village! You beat me up! You hurt my friend!" He tells the Drimogemon, "I won't let you get away with that!"  
  
"Bearmon..." I say quietly.  
  
He begins to glow. I've seen this before. When Flamon first became Agunimon, this happened. That means...  
  
He's Digivolving!  
  
"Bearmon Digivolve to..." I hear him cry.  
  
There's a flash of light and Bearmon no longer stands there. In his place is a bigger, more beastly looking Digimon. Blue fur replaces grey, he now has red shoulder pads and claw protectors. He walks on all fours and his eyes have a vengeful look to them now.  
  
"Grizzmon!" the Digimon announces himself as I look on in awe, "Ready for round 2, mole?"  
  
"You bet!" Drimogemon says as he charges yet again, "Mole's Claw!"  
  
"Grizzly Slash!" Grizzmon yells as he swipes Drimogemon and he falls over.  
  
"Not so easy now, is it?" Grizzmon asks.  
  
"Humph! Iron Drill Spin!" Drimogemon's drill spins.  
  
"Not this time!" Grizzmon says as he swipes Drimogemon again.  
  
"Argh!"  
  
"Time to end this, Drimogemon! Bear Blaster!" A blast of energy emerges from Grizzmon's mouth and hits Drimogemon square in the face.  
  
"NO!" Drimogemon yells as he's put down, "Please spare me!"  
  
"Now, fill this hole back up and get out of this area! I never want to see you here again!"  
  
"Yessir!" Drimogemon says as he quickly fills the hole in and runs off. We could here him say, "Wait 'til I tell the other Drimogemon about this!"  
  
Grizzmon chuckles and I run up to him.  
  
"That was great, Grizzmon! You really showed him who's boss!"  
  
"Sure did, didn't I?" Grizzmon says as he De-Digivolves.  
  
"Yeah," I say as I give him a playful punch on the shoulder, definitely not like me.  
  
A light materialises in front of me. It floats down onto the ground. I pick it up and it turns into a DigiVice, exactly like Tucker's, except it's blue where his is red.  
  
"Congratulations, Charlie!" Erin says, "You've got your partner!"  
  
"You were cool, Bearmon!" Jake tells him, "Better than Flamon!"  
  
"Hey!" Flamon says, insulted.  
  
"You were amazing, too, Charlie," Leah says as she gives me a small hug.  
  
"You jealous, Takeyama?" I ask our "leader", "Now I got some power, too. How do you like them apples?"  
  
"Whatever," Tucker says as he looks away, his face a bit red, "Come on, let's get out of this forest."  
  
"Out of the forest? I know a way!" Bearmon says, "We just need to follow this water to get out of the area."  
  
"Then let's go," Tucker says as he starts marching off.  
  
We follow. I follow. Bearmon follows. I now have my own Digimon. I don't have to live in Tucker's life debt for long.  
  
Grizzmon. Bearmon. My partner Digimon. I don't know what got into me back there, me caring for a Digimon like that. Maybe because I knew he was mine. Maybe because I was starting to break my icy shield which kept me from being friends with other kids. Maybe because I was lonely and Bearmon broke through the loneliness. Whatever the reason, I feel happy. Happy that I was breaking my non-contact. Happy that I have other kids to talk with and relate to. And happy that I found my partner.  
  
Soon, I'll pay back Tucker what I owe him by saving his life. We'll be even and the debt will be gone.  
  
And make no mistake, I always pay my debt in full.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
Please review! I want more people to read this so I know others like what I'm doing. More people like it, more chapters I do more often. Keep up to date with the adventures by checking this story often. Thanks! 


	4. And He Strikes, Like Thundermon

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own any of the characters of Digimon that will appear in this fic. I appreciate all the people who are reviewing this and giving me feedback. Helps me writer better. Thanks to all of you, you know who you are. Let us continue the story...  
  
Digimon X: Game 4-And He Strikes, Like Thundermon  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
Charlie and Tucker are having a dispute on which way to go after we come to a fork in the river we're following. It seems to be this isn't going to be the last of their fights here in the game. Or as its known to it's residents, Digital World.  
  
Maybe they're fighting because of the directional dispute. Maybe they're fighting because Tucker no longer has our only protection. Or maybe they're just fighting for the heck of it. I frankly don't care. I just want to find my partner and go home.  
  
My theory is that in order to get home, we have to play the game through. Although the goal of the game, I'm not sure. I informed the others of this and they all seem to agree. I believe that they all want to go home as well. After all, this wasn't part of the original outline, being trapped in a game with absolutely no idea where we are.  
  
Back in the Real World, I'm known as Leah Orimizu, a kind of brainiac. I'm smart, yeah, but I also just want to have fun. Most of the other kids don't see that in me. It's mostly just, "Leah's so smart this," "Leah can you explain that," and "Leah can you do my homework for me?"  
  
My parents always pushed me to go the whole nine yards. Maybe it was because they wanted to see me make something of myself, like my older sister. All I wanted was to please them. But it kind of gets frustrating when you're only seen as an intellectual by all your peers and family. Kids only see the intelligent me, not the actual me. They only call on me for work help, but other than that, they stay away.  
  
I guess that's why I got into Digimon. It was a big craze at my school and I wanted to show them that I wanted to have fun with it, too. Maybe then they'd see more of me and treat me just like they treat their friends. I worked my partner up and when I heard of the Digimon X draw, I just knew I had to participate.  
  
That's how I met these guys. Firstly is Erin, more of a happy person, just wanting to have some fun, but also caring for those around her. Next is Jake, the youngest of us. I can tell he's kind of scared of his new surroundings, but he tries not to show it. Then, there's Charlie. More of the silent, cool type, trying to distance himself from the rest of us. Deep down, he wants to truly show that he can be counted on.  
  
And finally, there's Tucker. Our leader. I first met him back at the draw. He seems kind of nervous around me. He's a bit headstrong, wants others to acknowledge him as important and is sworn to protect us through whatever comes our way. Flamon told me, when we landed in the game, that he wouldn't stop until he found me. Tucker then gave Flamon a bit of a hard tap on the head, telling him not to say that. Does he like me?  
  
Well, he is kind of cute.  
  
It seems that these kids all represent a certain side of me. That's interesting, being lost in a game with other kids that all present something of your personality.  
  
Anyway, the fight between Tucker and Charlie continues until it looks like it's going to come down to a fistfight. Erin comes in and says that it should just come down to a rock-paper-scissors. They reluctantly agree and Erin thanks Jake for the suggestion. Here they go.  
  
"Rock, paper, SCISSORS!" the two boys reveal their hands. They're both paper.  
  
"Rock, paper, SCISSORS!" It's rock this time.  
  
"Rock, paper, SCISSORS!" Scissors.  
  
"One more time," Jake says, "Winner decides what we get to do next."  
  
"Here that, Takeyama?" Charlie says, "Once I win, I'll be leading the guys down the right path!"  
  
"No way! I'M the leader. I got the goggles! It's like a rule in the Air Force. Whoever has the goggles, makes the rules."  
  
"Don't count on it for too long, goggle boy! Rock..."  
  
"Paper..."  
  
"SCISSORS!" Charlie has scissors, Tucker has paper.  
  
"YES! Scissors cut paper, I win!"  
  
"NUTS!"  
  
"I'll take the goggles then, Takeyama."  
  
"No way! These are mine! They're a gift from grandpa, no way I'm letting you have them!"  
  
"Fine! Keep the goggles. Like I care anyway," Charlie snorts, "Everyone this way."  
  
Charlie and Bearmon lead us to the right. Tucker is still a little sore about Charlie winning they're little duel.  
  
"Someday, he's gonna let his guard down. That's when I'm gonna..."  
  
"Tucker, it was just a game. Charlie can lead us through the next area for a while," I comfort him while Flamon pats him on the back, "then you can take the lead again, okay?"  
  
"Oh, all right. I guess it isn't so bad. I get to be back here with you then, Leah."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Maybe when we stop to camp, we could go collect some firewood together?"  
  
"I guess we could do that, Tucker," I say to him. He looks like he's going to explode with joy inside.  
  
Our walk continues as we trek through the forest. It seems like the trees are getting smaller and smaller. Maybe it's a sign that we're leaving the area. I bump into Jake as he had stopped. So did Erin and Charlie. I looked up and saw what made them stop.  
  
It was a kind of transparent watery-silver barrier. It seemed to run across the entire area. We could see the next area on the other side. It looked like a large open field. It appeared to be all one colour, but that was just probably the barrier's affects.  
  
"That wasn't there a second ago," Erin says.  
  
"So, what do we do now, leader?" Tucker asks Charlie, putting some bitterness on the last word.  
  
"Hold on," Charlie says as he puts out his hand to touch the barrier. It goes right through and the barrier ripples from where his hand is.  
  
"How does it feel?" Jake asks.  
  
"Kind of strange," Charlie says as he pulls out his hand, "Interesting. You think this was part of the game program?"  
  
"Not sure," I tell him, "Couldn't really tell from the World overview before we could pulled here."  
  
"I guess we go through. Wait until I give you a signal," Charlie says as he and Bearmon cross through. The barrier ripples and they're nowhere to be seen on the other side.  
  
A moment later they emerge on the other side. Charlie looks around and Bearmon is in a kind of battle-ready pose. Charlie gives the thumbs-up and calls to us from the other side. His voice is kind of faint, like he's talking through an old radio.  
  
"Come on," I can hear him, sort of, say, "It's okay to cross."  
  
Jake goes first, but doesn't want to. Erin tells him that they can go together so he won't be scared. They pass through and we wait a moment, since we can't see them on the other side yet. They emerge a moment later with Charlie.  
  
Tucker and Flamon go in afterwards, leaving me to go in alone. I breathe in, then breathe out slowly. Just as I see Tucker emerge, he sees me breathing in slowly, then comes back to my side.  
  
"You scared?" Tucker asks, his head, arms and torso appearing out of the barrier.  
  
"Kind of," I admit. I just didn't know what was going to happen while I was passing through and that scared me.  
  
"How about we go together? Or do you want to go alone?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. I'll go by myself."  
  
He disappears and goes back to the other side. I take a big breath of air and then pass through. It's strange going through. Like you're passing through water. Everything is rippling as you walk through. Time seems to be suspended and you feel a little strange in the stomach. I reach the other side and emerge to join the others.  
  
I can now see the area clearly. It's a big, wide open field, green and inviting. The sky is a brilliant blue, decorated with white clouds. Kind of like you're on a prairie. There are small Digimon playing, some stronger Digimon working and some Digimon just relaxing. It looks like a sort of green paradise.  
  
As we walked toward the field, the barrier we had just passed through, disappeared.  
  
"Hm, it just seems to appear and disappear whenever something comes close to it," I note.  
  
"Hey, Charlie," Tucker says, "You got us here, you're turn is up. I'm leader again, okay?"  
  
"All right, Takeyama," he tells Tucker, "Lead us again. Especially since the peaceful Digimon are charging towards us like we're attacking them."  
  
"What?" Tucker says as the Digimon gather around us, trapping us in a circle.  
  
"Not good," Erin says, "Not good at all. Somebody do something."  
  
"All right. But Charlie, I'll need your help."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Flamon!"  
  
"Bearmon!"  
  
"Go get 'em!" the boys shout.  
  
"Rah! Flame Fist!" Flamon attacks an Elecmon close to him.  
  
"Bear Claw!" Bearmon swipes a Floramon close to him.  
  
The Digimon start to back away a bit, clearing a bit of a path. We must've scared them enough for them to let us go by.  
  
"Let's MOVE it, guys!" I hear Tucker yell.  
  
"Wait," a Digimon says. He is emerging from the path the Digimon made. Looks kind of like a prairie dog with iron claws. Who was he again?  
  
Charlie gives the answer as he pulls out his DigiVice and scans the Digimon. A little screen comes up displaying all the information. "Prairiemon," he reads out, "An Armour level mammal Digimon. Data type. They're peaceful Digimon, digging and digging to their heart's content."  
  
The Prairiemon comes up to us and begins to talk, "We shouldn't be fighting. This area is a place of peace and prosperity. You just took us by surprise, coming here unexpectedly."  
  
"Well, sorry if we damaged anybody," Tucker bows in apology.  
  
"It's okay. Come, I'll show you to my home. We can talk more there."  
  
We follow the Prairiemon to a hole in the ground. He dives in the hole and we're all left there wondering what to do. He comes back up and motions for us to come in the hole.  
  
"But we're too big," Erin says, "Can't you make the hole bigger?"  
  
The Prairiemon obviously never thought of this and calls over a couple of his buddies. They burrow and burrow until the hole is human sized. He again motions for us to come and we comply.  
  
I head down the hole first, slowly sliding to the bottom. Kind of like those old kiddie slides at the playground. The others are behind me, I can hear them sliding with me. I land at the bottom and enter a small entrance. It's a nice underground room, with couches, tables, dressers, etc. Kind of like Bearmon's former home.  
  
"Come, sit down," he tells us as we all take a seat. He begins to talk, "Actually, I'm grateful that you've all come to this area just now. We're having problems."  
  
"Like what?" Jake asks.  
  
"Well, there's a Digimon terrorising the place. You remember that happy little scene where we were all working when you came in? That's a set-up. He's forcing us to do it. Either we comply or he'll destroy our homes!"  
  
"Who's he?" I wonder.  
  
"A powerful Champion level Digimon called Thudermon. He came a while ago to the area with a compatriot. They've been ruling us since then."  
  
"Then why did you only mention the one?" Charlie questions.  
  
"Because his friend has turned against him and is now protecting us. It must be because one of my neighbours took a blow for him when Thundermon was attacking and the Digimon didn't approve of him hurting us anymore."  
  
"Well, where do we find this Digimon? We could help him defend the area," Tucker tells him, "After all, it's part of the..."  
  
I cover his mouth this time, "Ssh!! Don't say that!"  
  
"Say what?" the Prairiemon asks.  
  
There's a scream from outside and we all head up. We encounter the terrorist Digimon, Thundermon, attacking all the Digimon.  
  
Tucker takes out his DigiVice and analyses him. "Thundermon, a Mutant Data- type Digimon. Champion level. His Thunder Volt and Thunder Bomber attacks are simply shocking!"  
  
"Stop! I won't let you hurt them anymore!" We hear a voice cry out. I take a look at a wounded Digimon, fighting the Thundermon.  
  
Tucker points his DigiVice and analyses the other Digimon. "Labramon, a Vaccine-type Animal Digimon. Rookie level. Like a sweet puppy, this Digimon is incredibly loyal and won't back down against anything."  
  
The yellow dog Digimon with a red tail and ears gets up. "I told you, I won't let you do this anymore! So stop!"  
  
"Why?" Thundermon taunts, "So you can live among them digging for dirt? That's all you did before I became friends with you. And that's all you'll ever do again if you don't get out of my way!"  
  
"Never! Retrieving!" Labramon swipes at Thundermon, but misses.  
  
"Humph! You never did have good fighting skills. Let me show how it's really done! Thunder Volt!" Thundermon charges up his fist so electricity is burning from it and hits Labramon. Labramon falls backwards.  
  
"No! We can't let him do this! Tucker! Charlie! Do something!" I yell at them.  
  
"All right, Leah. Flamon! Go and get Labramon over here!" Tucker orders Flamon.  
  
"Consider him got," Flamon says as he goes over to save Labramon.  
  
"Bearmon, provide a distraction," Charlie tells his partner.  
  
"All right. HEY! Mr. Thunderball! Over here!" Bearmon calls out. He then gets out and proceeds to wave his butt over at the Digimon.  
  
"ERG! How DARE you disgrace me with that awful sight! I'll get you for that! Thunder Bomber!" He charges towards us.  
  
"Got him!" Flamon calls as he rushes over to us.  
  
"Good! We're outta here!" Tucker says as he disappears down the hole.  
  
We all follow and we can hear Bearmon yell something at Thundermon before coming with us.  
  
We return to the Digimon's home and immediately start treating Labramon. I bandage his wounds.  
  
"Labramon, what you're doing for the Digimon is very sweet," I say as I wrap some bandages around his paw, "I'd like to thank you personally for that." He was putting his life on the line defending all these Digimon from his former comrade and I admired that.  
  
"Aw, it's nothing," Labramon says as he scratches at the spot where Thundermon got him.  
  
"No, it's really something," the Prairiemon says, "Thank you."  
  
"That Digimon's pretty strong. What do we do to save the Digimon?" Erin asks.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Tucker says, "We fight him! Just like we did with Dokugumon and Drimogemon."  
  
"But remember how Flamon couldn't Digivolve last time?" Jake recalls.  
  
"Well, that was just a fluke. I've got this thing figured out now! See?" Tucker shakes his DigiVice up and down.  
  
"Tucker, stop. You'll break it," Erin says.  
  
"Since our captain can't figure out how to work the DigiVice, we'll need a strategy," Charlie says, "Here's what we do..."

* * *

A few hours later, Thundermon is terrorising the field again. This time, we have a plan. Bearmon is going to provide another of his "distractions", while the Digimon dig a hole behind Thundermon that Flamon can attack from. Then, Labramon should be able to finish him off once Flamon's done enough damage.  
  
The plan's going smoothly so far, with Bearmon ridiculing Thundermon. The hole's starting to take shape. Labramon is getting ready. I tell him that he doesn't have to do this, but says he wants to.  
  
"...and your gloves? What's up with those? They look like you got them from a garbage can!" We hear Bearmon.  
  
"You're making me angry. You don't want to see me angry," Thundermon growls at him as the hole is almost done being dug.  
  
"Go, Flamon," Tucker whispers as Flamon jumps into the hole. According to my calculations, it'll take Flamon 40 seconds to get to the other end. And gathering from Thundermon getting PO'ed, Flamon'll have to cut the time in half or Bearmon will get a severe shock to the system.  
  
"...and that's why you're not gonna win the "King of the Mons" title next year!"  
  
"THAT'S IT! PREPARE FOR A SHOCKING REVELATION! THUNDER VOLT!" Thundermon shouts as he charges at Bearmon. At that moment, Flamon pops up and hits Thundermon's back with a Flame Fist.  
  
"All right! Go Flamon!" Tucker cheers.  
  
A few more fire punches and Thundermon's down. Labramon comes up to him and prepares to deliver the final blow.  
  
"I'm sorry I have to do this, old friend," he says, "but I can't let you hurt these Digimon anymore!"  
  
"Oh really?" Thundermon gets up, "Thunder Bomber!" He punches Labramon in the gut again and he collapses. Looks like Flamon didn't put enough 'umph' into his attacks.  
  
"Sorry I had to do THAT, old friend," Thundermon smirks triumphantly.  
  
I go to Labramon's side while Flamon and Bearmon go at Thundermon.  
  
"I did...what I could..." Labramon whispers, "I failed the Digimon...I'm so...sorry..."  
  
"No, you did great. If you can hold on a little longer, Bearmon'll make you some great soup. It's quite delicious," I say, feeling upset and holding back tears.  
  
Labramon looks over to see Flamon and Bearmon fighting against Thundermon. They're losing.  
  
"Flamon! Keep going!" Tucker cries.  
  
"Bearmon! Don't give up!" Charlie yells.  
  
Labramon also looks at all the Digimon in the area, cowering in fear of the battle. He looks back at Thundermon, at his former friend and at the pain he's causing.  
  
Labramon gets up. "I can't let Thundermon continue to terrorise these innocent Digimon. He's become a monster, and I'm the only one who can stop him! I won't let him hurt these mons anymore!"  
  
Labramon begins to glow with a familiar light. He's Digivolving! I shield my eyes as he glows brighter and begins to change.  
  
"Labramon Digivolve to..."  
  
There's a flash of lightning and a loud howl. As soon as the light clears, in his place stands a kind of shiisa Digimon, with a yellow kind of mane, paws and tail. A horn protrudes from his head and he's got a more dangerous look to him now.  
  
"Seasarmon!"  
  
An actual Seasarmon! I never thought I'd actually see one! They're supposed to be quite rare in the games. This is amazing! Labramon Digivolved to protect the other Digimon.  
  
"So, you Digivolved at last," Thundermon cackles, "Let's see what kind of power you have now!"  
  
"Bring it on!" Seasarmon charges at Thundermon.  
  
Through all this, Charlie takes out his DigiVice and analyses the new Digimon. "Seasarmon, a Holy Animal Vaccine-type Digimon. Champion level. Guardians of legend, they're also supposed to bring good luck to those who befriend them."  
  
"Thunder Bomber!"  
  
Seasarmon dodges it with ease and continues to rush forward. "Holy Horn!" Seasarmon disappears for a second, then strikes at Thundermon with his horn and cuts his arm a little.  
  
"Arg! You'll pay for that, you dog of a Digimon!"  
  
"Don't think so!" He attacks again with a Holy Horn and does some more damage.  
  
"Whoa! He's fast!" Jake remarks.  
  
"Yeah! Go Seasarmon!" Tucker cheers.  
  
"Go Seasarmon!" I add.  
  
"Go Seasarmon! Go Seasarmon! Go, go Seasarmon!" the Digimon from all the area cheer for their new protector.  
  
"Thunder Volt!" Thundermon gets Seasarmon yet again with that attack, "Still can't dodge that one attack, eh? No matter what you Digivolve into, you're still just a pathetic little Labramon."  
  
"That's not true!" I yell at Thundermon, "He's become stronger than you could ever be! He's not the pathetic one, YOU are! You make me sick just looking at you!"  
  
"Care to try some of my Thunder Volt?" Thundermon yells as he rushes towards me. I brace myself for the hit, but it never comes. Seasarmon has taken the hit for me.  
  
"Seasarmon!" I cry as tears begin to emerge.  
  
"Hahaha! You can't beat the invincible Thundermon! Mwahahahaha!!"  
  
"Oh yeah? Let's even the odds!" Tucker yells at him.  
  
"Huh?" Thundermon turns.  
  
"Flamon..." Tucker begins.  
  
"Bearmon..." Charlie adds.  
  
"DIGIVOLVE!!" The two boys shout as they hold out their DigiVices and they begin to glow.  
  
"Flamon Digivolve to..."  
  
"Bearmon Digivolve to..."  
  
The two Rookies begin to change. A giant flame engulfs Flamon while a small mountain of rocks surround Bearmon. There are flashes and the flame and rocks die down to the ground. In place of the Digimon who were there, there are now...  
  
"Agunimon!"  
  
"Grizzmon!"  
  
The two Digimon waste no time in starting to fight.  
  
"All right! Double team 'im!" Tucker shouts.  
  
"Pyro Darts!" Agunimon fires flaming darts at Thundermon.  
  
"Grizzly Slash!" Grizzmon slashes at Thundermon.  
  
"NO!" Thundermon shouts as he is hit by the attacks.  
  
"Seasarmon, you okay?" I ask the Digimon who saved me.  
  
"I'm fine. Just let me back at that dark Digimon I once called my friend!" Seasarmon joins the fight. "Holy Horn!"  
  
"ARG!" Thundermon is hit again and collapses.  
  
"I'm truly sorry for this, Thundermon, but for causing unrest to these Digimon, we will show no mercy! Now we will finish you together!"  
  
"Pyro Tornado!" Agunimon launches his flaming whirlpool.  
  
"Bear Blaster!" Grizzmon fires his burst of energy.  
  
"Now for my own personal touch! Shiisa Beam!" Seasarmon directs a burst of lightning to its target.  
  
"NO!! How could you do this to me, Labramon, after all I did for you? HOW COULD YOU!!" The attacks hit and Thundermon is no longer there.  
  
The Digimon from the area cheer as the Digimon return to Rookie form. We all rush them at once with praise.  
  
"Yeah, Flamon!" "You rock, Bearmon!" and "Amazing, Labramon!" were among the comments given to the Digimon.  
  
"To commemorate this, let us present you with this," the Prairiemon gives us his own gloves he used to dig with.  
  
"Oh, Prairiemon! We can't take these! These are yours!" I tell him.  
  
"Not to worry! I have a whole compartment of them at my house! Thank you again for saving us."  
  
"No problem! It was our pleasure," Erin tells the Digimon and they all cheer.  
  
Through all of this, I fail to notice Labramon missing. He's off to the side, making a grave for his friend. After he finishes, he bows his head in remembrance.  
  
"Labramon..." I say quietly. He must've really cared about that Digimon. It took all his courage and strength to resist him and now he's gone. This must really be hard on him. I go over to him and put my hand on his shoulder, "You really cared about him, huh?" 

"Yes..." Labramon whispers, "He was the one friend I had since we were just Baby Digimon. We had fun together. But whenever he Digivolved, he just seemed to get stronger and, bit by bit, less my friend. He began beating down Digimon just for fun, and that's when I knew he wasn't the Digimon I called 'friend' long ago. I had to defeat him, to try and save the Digimon he was beating. But...but..."

"It still hurts, doesn't it?"

"He was still my friend. Even though he was mean and power-crazed just a few hours ago, he was still my friend..." Labramon begins to cry, "It hurts when you have to destroy your friend, even if it's for the good of others. Maybe if he hadn't gotten so strong and maybe Digivolved into a weaker form, maybe he would still be here as my friend. Now I have no friends."

"That's not true, Labramon," I say as I turn him around to face me, "You have a friend. Me."

"Really?" Labramon says as he wipes his face with his paw, "You'll be friends with me?"

"Of course!" I smile at him, "Anyone would be once they get to know you. And I'm sure Thundermon was happy to be friends with you, too."

"I just wish I knew if he was still my friend after all that's happened."

"You know what? I think he is," I say as I face the grave for Thundermon, "I think right now, he's smiling down at you, happy that he was friends with a mon like you."

"Do you really think so?" Labramon asks.

"I know so," I say as I bow my head, put my hands together and pay my respects for the fallen Digimon. Labramon does the same and we stay like this for a minute. Then I stop and take Labramon's paw and say, "Come on, we'd better get back to the others."

"All right," Labramon says as he takes one final look at the grave and I can just barely hear him say, "Goodbye, Thundermon. Goodbye...my friend."  
  
As we walk, a light shines from the sky. It falls down into my hand. It materialises into a DigiVice, like Tucker and Charlie's, only it's yellow.  
  
I smile at this realisation. We're partners! I had a suspicion that this Labramon was my partner. After all, a Labramon was loaded into my D-Card back in the Real World.  
  
I rush over to the others and give them the good news. Now we have three partners. Two more and then we can figure out what to do from there.

It's sunset and time for us to leave. As we begin off, a Prairiemon gives us directions on how to get out of the field. We thank him and all the Digimon show up to give us a wave-off. I smile at Labramon, happy that we have another new Digimon on our journey. I'm sure he's happy that he's with us, too. I wonder how Erin and Jake will react when they find their partners?  
  
We march off and everything is peaceful.  
  
"So, who got us here, Takeyama?" Charlie asks.  
  
"Fine, you did," Tucker huffs, "But that was only for this time. I'm leader again, okay? I decide what we do next."  
  
"Humph! You couldn't decide to do something if your life depended on it."  
  
"Arg! What was that?"  
  
Well, it WAS peaceful, anyway...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
As always, review the story! Let me know how the story's going and if you like the way it's going. Plus, check out my other stories if you like what you read. It helps to know that many people enjoy what I do. 


	5. The Mystery of the 'Swamp Monster'

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any official Digimon who will appear in the fic. The group through, Tucker, Jake, Leah, Charlie and Erin, are mine. Other than that, let us regroup with the team as they continue their journey through the game...  
  
Digimon X: Game 5-The Mystery of the 'Swamp Monster'  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
It was getting dark as we continue moving through the area. I don't like the dark. You never really know what's in it. Luckily, Flamon's fire was lighting the way. We had passed through another of what Leah calls "DigiBarriers" and had stumbled upon a swamplike area. It seemed to go on for miles.  
  
"Hmmm," Tucker says, looking the area over, "it goes on for quite a bit."  
  
"Yeah, we can see that, Takeyama," Charlie huffs.  
  
"I think we should make camp," Erin offers, "It's almost completely dark and we've been walking for hours."  
  
"Good idea. All right everyone," Tucker announces, "We're making camp. For now, we need the various stuff before it gets too dark to see. Bearmon, since you're the best cook, you can make something for us."  
  
"All right, but I don't have much to work with," Bearmon says, looking around.  
  
"Charlie, Erin, Labramon and Jake will assist you. Leah, Flamon and I will go and collect the firewood."  
  
Bearmon has a rough idea of where to get some food. Apparently, there are some tasty plants and little frogs to eat. We all wade into a particularly swampy area and start to collect the plants and catch the frogs.  
  
"That's it, keep going," Bearmon tells us as he gathers everything in a pile, "We just need a couple more little frogs now."  
  
"Hey Bearmon, how come you're not helping?" Erin asks.  
  
"Yeah Bearmon. You know all about these things, you should be helping us. We are partners, after all," Charlie states.  
  
"I am helping! I'm trying to determine what kind of entrée I can make with these ingredients," Bearmon defends as he looks at the things we had got, "Let's see...Frog Sushi? Nah, too gruesome for humans...Seaweed and Tadpole Stew? Uh uh, don't have potatoes..."  
  
"Hey Erin," I ask her, "I was just wondering..."  
  
"Wondering what, Jake?"  
  
"Do you think we'll ever get back home? I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a game. It's too big and scary. I wanna go back to Mom and Dad..." I cry, remembering my parents faces, "I only wanted to play this for fun. I don't want to stay here forever! I wanna go home!"  
  
"Oh...oh, oh, oh..." Erin says, pulling me into a small hug, "It's okay. You'll be fine here. There's Tucker and Flamon, Leah and Labramon and Charlie and Bearmon here to protect you. Not to mention you got me here. And I promise to you, we'll get out of here. You'll see your mom and dad again."  
  
I sniff, feeling a bit better. "Erin...you're so nice. I never had a sister. Will you be my older sister?"  
  
"Sure," Erin smiles brushes away a couple of my tears, "Just remember, whatever Tucker or I say to you, goes."  
  
"Okay," I say, feeling much better that Erin was my sister now.  
  
"Hey! If you've got time to hug, keep finding food! It's almost totally dark!" Charlie yells at us.  
  
"Don't worry, Charlie. We're working!" Erin says as she brakes the hug.

* * *

A little while later, we have a fire going and we're eating Bearmon's Roasted Tadpole Rolls. Even though it scares me a bit, I eat anyway. It's actually good.  
  
"Bearmon!" Tucker says with his mouth full, "Can you do no wrong with food?"  
  
"Hah! Wrong is a word that I don't see in my DigiDictionary!" Bearmon smiles proudly, puffing his chest out.  
  
"Delicious! What's the recipe?" Flamon asks.  
  
"That's my own little secret! You forget, I was one of the great cooks of Forest Village!"  
  
"Yeah," Charlie swallowed the last of his food, "Anyway, back to original matters. I mean, this is the Digital World and Digimon could attack us at anytime. I propose that we watch in shifts. Bearmon and I will take the first shift."  
  
"I'll take the next one," Leah adds.  
  
"I'm not leaving the both of you to do this alone! I'm in!" Tucker states.  
  
"I guess I'll finish up the night," Erin says, "How many hours do we watch for?"  
  
"Two hours would be good," Leah answers.  
  
"At first light, we'll make our way through this swamp to the next area. Maybe that's where Erin and Jake's partners will be," Tucker says, "For now, let's all just get some shut eye."  
  
"I'm with you on that, Tucker," Erin yawns, "Night all."  
  
"Night," we all say as we fall asleep and Charlie kept watch.  
  
Well, I'm sure the others fell asleep. I couldn't sleep. I keep thinking about Mom and Dad back home. They must be really worried, I think. What if Erin lied? What if we couldn't get back and we'd be stuck here for the rest of our lives?  
  
I kept thinking about this, over and over. Soon, I got tired from thinking and fell asleep. My dreams turned bad as I dreamt that I would be trapped in the Digital World forever. The others would abandon me. Even Erin. I'd be dragged down and down into darkness...

* * *

"Jake...Jake...It's time to get up," I hear a voice call my name. It sounded like Mom trying to wake me up. Was I home? Was it all just a bad dream? I open my eyes and see Erin's face. "Come on, Jake. We're moving through the swamp as soon as Tucker wakes up."  
  
"Wha...?" I ask. Then I look over at Tucker. He was spread out on his back, snoring loudly with a bubble blowing in and out from his nose. It was funny to see. Flamon uses a Flame Fist on him and Tucker was given a rude awakening. I struggle to keep myself from laughing as he bounced about trying to put out the fire on his backside.  
  
He finally falls into the swamp and has the fire put out. "Okay! I'm up! Let's go!" he says as he turns around and started trudging through the swamp. As he walks, I can't help but giggle. So did the others. It was pretty funny.  
  
"What's so funny?" Tucker asks us. We all say nothing.  
  
"Whatever," he says as we continued to chuckle behind his back.  
  
After all, Tucker does have a giant slab of swamp grass on his butt that Erin vaguely reads as "Kick Me".  
  
We tread through the swamp, Flamon and Tucker in front, Erin and I behind him, Leah and Labramon behind us and Charlie and Bearmon taking up the rear. Even though I feel safe with the Digimon and Erin with me, I feel kind of strange. Like there's something out there, watching you.  
  
I gaze down at the water as we passed. Past a giant lily pad far to the right, I see it. A pair of eyes, rippling in the water. I was being watched!  
  
"Aahhh!" I yelp.  
  
"Jake! What's going on?" Erin asks as the others look ready to fight.  
  
"I saw a pair of eyes! Over there!" I point to where I saw the eyes.  
  
"Don't worry, Labramon and I will check it out," Leah promises as she heads off to where I was pointing. She checks the area around the giant lily pad, "I don't see anything!"  
  
"Jake, were you pulling our legs?" Erin asks.  
  
"No. I really saw a pair of eyes in the water!" I say.  
  
"Maybe it was your imagination."  
  
"Maybe," I admit.  
  
"You made Leah go search for nothing?" Charlie growls, "We just wasted time because of you!"  
  
"Charlie!" Leah scowls, "It never hurts to make sure."  
  
"Whatever, let's just keep moving," Charlie huffs.  
  
We keep on walking. "I really thought I saw eyes..." I whispers.  
  
"I believe you, Jake," Erin whispers back.  
  
"Thanks, Erin," I reply. Even as we kept walking, I still got that same strange feeling every few minutes.

* * *

It's a couple of hours later when we make it to what looks like an abandoned village. We are brought to a Digimon's house, up on a platform from a dock, led to by stairs. As we climb, I get that feeling again. Something was watching me and I didn't like it.  
  
Tucker said to ignore it as we head into the small hut of a Gabumon. We all take a seat as Gabumon starts to make some tea.  
  
"We hardly ever get visitors here in the swamp," Gabumon tells us as he hands us each a cup, "Especially because of the 'Swamp Monster'."  
  
"'Swamp Monster'?" Charlie said doubtingly, "What 'Swamp Monster'?"  
  
"This village used to be a nice place to live. Until a few weeks ago," Gabumon began, "when a mysterious monster started appearing in the area. It took residents of this village at random. After a few of us disappeared, the majority of the Digimon in the village moved to other areas. Only a few of us remain to live here. We won't abandon our homes just because a monster takes some of us unguarded!"  
  
"What happens before the victim is taken?" Leah asks.  
  
"Barely anyone knows. But I know a 'mon who knows what happens. He and his friend were just fishing a little ways from here when he saw it. A pair of eyes swimming in the water."  
  
I gulp, knowing that was probably what I saw. Erin pats me on the shoulder and gives me a comforting grin, making me feel better.  
  
"Then the monster attacked! The two Digimon tried to flee, but it was too fast. Suddenly, a giant tail whipped up from beneath the surface, wrapped its tail around the Digimon's friend and took him beneath the water. He was never seen again," Gabumon sniffed, like he was about to cry.  
  
"Who's the Digimon who knows all this?" Tucker asks.  
  
"I am. It was my friend who was taken," Gabumon looks down to his feet, remembering what happened.  
  
"Oh, Gabumon. I'm so sorry," Leah comforts him.  
  
"It's okay. I've been afraid to leave the village in fear that 'it' might get me before I make it out. But that's going to change!"  
  
"How?" I ask.  
  
"Because you're here! You came to take care of our problem, right?" Gabumon wondered.  
  
"Of course!" Tucker grins, answering for all of us, "Taking care of bad monsters is our speciality!"  
  
"Then, you'll help?"  
  
"Yeah! After all, it's all part of the..."  
  
Erin clamps his mouth this time. "How many times do we have to tell you not to say that!"  
  
"Oops, heh heh," Tucker nervously muffled.  
  
"Great! Just go on out and defeat that monster! Tell me when you defeat it," Gabumon says as he motions us out the door, "I'll be rooting for you!"  
  
The door then slams shut.  
  
"Well, that was rude," Bearmon comments. We climb down the ladder to the platform. As soon as my feet touch the dock, I get that feeling again.  
  
"Jake, since you saw the eyes, you'll be our alert system for the 'Swamp Monster'," Tucker says to me, "How do you feel about that, buddy?"  
  
I couldn't answer him. My eyes rolled to the side and I saw the eyes, larger than before. I couldn't move.  
  
"Jake? I said, 'How do you feel about that?'" Tucker repeated.  
  
"Nervous," I whisper, "He's here."  
  
"Where?" Charlie wonders. Then a gigantic tail arose out of the water.  
  
"There!" I scream. As soon as I said that, the tail wrapped around me and I was lifted into the air, "HELP ME!!"  
  
The Digimon all launched attacks at the tail, but it dodged every one of them. Tucker orders Flamon to Flame Fist the tail directly. Flamon did as he was told and there's a scream from beneath the water. The tail loosened a bit.  
  
"It's working! Hang in there, Jake!" Erin tells me.  
  
"Bearmon! Claw it!" Charlie commands.  
  
"Bear Claw!" Bearmon cried as he swiped at the tail. Another scream and the tail loosened a bit more.  
  
"One more should do it! Labramon!" Leah cries.  
  
Labramon just headbutts the tail, instead of an attack. It works anyway and I'm released from the tail and dropped back on the platform with the others. Tucker catches me in the fall.  
  
"Whew! That was close, eh kiddo?" Tucker grins.  
  
"Yeah," I nod, "What does it want with me, anyway?"  
  
"I don't know, but we'll find out soon," Erin tells me.  
  
There was a long green shape, the 'Swamp Monster'! We followed the direction from where the attacker was going. After a few minutes, we reached murky water and the trail had disappeared.  
  
"Man! We'll never find it now!" Tucker clenches his fist, "Who knows where it is!"  
  
"Obviously not you," Charlie snorts.  
  
"Erg! Do YOU know where it is, then, smart guy?"  
  
"No! But why are YOU leading us when you don't even know what you're doing? Who made YOU leader of this group?"  
  
"I'm trying to get us home! YOU just choose to follow me! If you don't like what I'm doing, LEAVE!"  
  
"Boys! Now's not the time!" Leah tries to break them up.  
  
"Stay out of this, Leah!" Charlie barks at her.  
  
"You can't talk to Leah like that!" Tucker says angrily.  
  
"I just did! What? You have something for her?" Charlie asks.  
  
"ARG! Why you..." Tucker begins to curl his fist while Leah tries to break them up. During all this, I feel uneasy again. I turn and see through the murky water, the eyes. Again.  
  
"Guys..." I whisper.  
  
"...I was the first one to have a Digimon..."  
  
"So? That automatically makes you leader! HA..."  
  
"Guys..." I say louder. The eyes seem to get bigger.  
  
"...don't make me laugh, Takeyama. You couldn't lead a Girl Scout troop to save your life!"  
  
"What makes you think I can't?"  
  
"Guys!" I yelp as the tail reaches out, "IT'S HERE!"  
  
"Huh?" Both Charlie and Tucker say at the same time.  
  
The tail wraps around me again and I'm lifted into the air. "JAKE!!" is the last thing I hear from them as I'm taken under the water. It's so murky and I can barely see as I move through the water like a missile. I see shapes running after me. The others. I can vaguely make out things like "Jake, no!", "We're coming!" and "Hold on, kid!" from them.  
  
I can't hold my breath for much longer. I never learned extended breath- holding from swimming lessons. I can't take anymore. I have to breathe! I try to move upwards to the air to breathe and let the others know where I am, but it takes all my strength to move since the tail wrapped around me is strong.  
  
My mouth opens and I breathe in water. I can feel water rush past me as I'm no longer going horizontal, but diagonally. I'm going down into the darkness. The others abandoned me. They can't come to me. They don't want to come.  
  
The darkness increases. They don't care. I'm not sure I care, either. I'm out of air. I can't last. I feel it swallow me whole.  
  
The darkness...

* * *

Everything's dark. I can still hear Mom's voice calling me to wake up. I don't want to get up. Why should I even bother getting up when everything's dark?  
  
Her voice calls again. This time, to open my eyes. Is that all the darkness is? My eyes closed? I decided to humour her and open them. I see a rocky ceiling. I sit up and find myself sitting on rock. There is a pool of water about a few feet away. Walls surround me on all sides. I look around and see several Digimon beside me. What were they?  
  
Elecmon is one. Another is Otamamon. Around me, in total, are seven Digimon. They all look a little scared.  
  
"Hey, kid," Elecmon asks me, "You okay? The Digimon tied you up with this." Elecmon shows me a stretched tail extension that fits on what looks like a giant tail.  
  
"Yeah, I'm good. Why?"  
  
"We never thought we'd see the day a human came to the Digital World. This might be a good thing. Maybe we can escape!"  
  
"Escape? Why?"  
  
"We were taken by the 'Swamp Monster' a few days ago. I was personally separated from my friend, a Gabumon, when we were fishing," he tells me. So this is Gabumon's friend! "I don't know what he plans to do with us, only that it's probably not good."  
  
"Can you tell me who this 'Swamp Monster' is?" I ask.  
  
"Well, he was once a resident of the village. He was more of a loner. He didn't have any family or anything, so he'd do anything for attention. One day, a small group of our younger ones invited him to a little village party. He was more than happy to participate. He had planned to show them a special exhibition of his work as being an aquatic Digimon so that he'd be noticed. Well, one of our younger ones thought it'd be funny to sabotage his exhibition. When this Digimon tried to show us a special move in mid- air, the young one and a couple of his friends scared him so that he'd land on his face and ruin the big finale he had in store at the end. We had a bit of a laugh, but the Digimon didn't like what he was hearing. That's when he said it..."  
  
"One day, you'll be sorry! You'll all be sorry for laughing at me! I worked so hard on this and when I try to show you, you all laugh? One day, when you least expect it, I'll come back and you'll be scared silly of me! When that day comes, I'll be the one laughing!"  
  
"...he left the village soon after that and we never saw him again."  
  
"I guess I can empathise," I say as I remembered a similar thing happened to me at school at a talent show when I tried to show everyone how well I could juggle. I wasn't seeking payback, Mom and Dad comforted me and said I'd show them next time. But, then again, that Digimon didn't have anybody. I ask, "But who IS this Digimon?"  
  
I see something come out of the pool of water on all fours. It's covered in silver armour with some fins sticking out on the front legs and it's neck. The claws on the front of the armour look sharp. It's pink below it's torso and on it's hind legs. His tail looks a ordinary grey while it's blue eyes have a cold look. I know this Digimon from the Encyclopaedia.  
  
"Coelamon," I say aloud, quoting from the program encyclopaedia, "He's a Champion-levelled, Ancient Fish Data Digimon. His Fossil Bite and Ancient Bite attacks leave his opponents with a vague sense of what hit them."  
  
"I see you've heard of me, little one," Coelamon says, "My reputation precedes me."  
  
"I know why you've brought these Digimon here, but why me?" I ask, "I never did anything to you!"  
  
"True," Coelamon admits, "But your friends did. They attacked me. They're trying to hurt me. Just like those villagers did to me two months ago! I was merely defending myself with my new weapon."  
  
"What weapon?"  
  
"Digivolution. I tried to show them, but when I was about to perform it, the villagers scared me and I failed it. I worked so hard to Digivolve to show them I could be useful and what do they do? They laugh at me! How do you think that feels when someone laughs at you when you foul up?" Coelamon asks.  
  
"I...I..." I begin, "It hurts. Yes, people laugh at you for fouling up. But there's always next time. That's when you show them just what you can really do."  
  
"That's exactly what I'm doing. Except I'm showing them through fear. Now, like I promised, I'm the one laughing! Ha ha ha ha!"  
  
"You're showing them your potential through fear and anger? That's no way to show how good you are! That's just showing them how bad you can be! Think about it. True, their youngsters sabotaged what you were going to do, but is scaring the pants, or lack thereof, off these Digimon showing what good you can do for them? Or is it only what harm you can do?"  
  
"But, they laughed..."  
  
"Yes, it hurts, I know. I personally was in the same thing a couple months ago. But I didn't want revenge, I wanted another chance to show them. I ran away because I didn't think I could get it right again after the way they laughed. But I know I'll do better next time if I work hard enough!" I tell him as I move closer to Coelamon, "Tell me! Is what your doing getting you another chance to show everyone what you can really do?"  
  
Coelamon is quiet. He's taking this all in. I think I can see a tear forming in his left eye. "The laughing..." he says, "It's died down. I could always hear the laughing. But, now...I can't hear anything."  
  
He begins to cry fully now, "I can't hear anything!" I pull him into a hug, like Erin did to me yesterday, "Now I understand. It was the pain of that that fuelled my hatred. But after what you said...it's all gone. I can't even remember what they were laughing about now."  
  
"You see? It'll all be okay. Just let us go and apologise for what happened and you'll get your second chance, I promise," I tell him.  
  
"All right," Coelamon sniffs, "You can all go now. We're about twenty minutes from the village."  
  
"But how can we get back?" An Otamamon asks.  
  
"I'll take you all back myself! Put the tail extension on me and hold on tight!" Coelamon instructs, "Kid, you can ride on my back."  
  
"Really? Great!" I cheer as I get on his back, "By the way, the name's not 'Kid'. It's Jake. Jake Kinochi."  
  
"Well then, Jake Kinochi, hold on tight and hold your breath because here we go!" he says as we all hang on tight as he dives into the pool. My eyes are shut as water rushes past again. I hope it doesn't take too long to get to the surface. I feel us climb upward from the where we currently are. A little longer, a little longer, I tell myself as my breath begins to run out.  
  
Soon I here a large splash. I can't help it anymore, I have to look. My eyes open and I'm greeted with the swamp's sky. I breathe in the air as we swim to the village. As we get further in, Digimon from behind jump off to rush home. The tail just kind of clips off as Coelamon and I continue the swim.  
  
"Coelamon, let's go to Gabumon's house! Maybe my friends will be there," I say to Coelamon.  
  
"Right! To Gabumon's house!" Coelamon says as we make our way to the house.  
  
"Guys! Hey guys!" I call to my friends as Coelamon and I get on the dock. "Erin! Guys! It's Jake!" I see the others come out of the house. They all spot me and rush down the ladder to greet me.  
  
"Jake! You're alive!" "We were so worried about you!" and "What happened, kid?" are some of the words told to me as Erin gives me a big hug and I hug her back. Then Tucker notices Coelamon.  
  
"Whoa! Jake, stand back! We'll take care of this!" Tucker says as he motions for Flamon to attack.  
  
"Hey wait! Tucker, stop!" I wave my hands, "Things have changed! Coelamon was once the 'Swamp Monster', but no more! He let go all the Digimon he kidnapped and is looking for a second chance! Just let him talk to everyone and have him apologise for what he did, please?"  
  
"All right, Jake. If you say so..." Tucker says.  
  
"Come on, Coelamon," I say to him, "Let's go start with Gabumon."

* * *

An hour or two later, Coelamon has apologised to everyone and is forgiven. I smile as Erin places her hands on my shoulders.  
  
"See? Doesn't it feel good to be able to have another chance?" I ask Coelamon.  
  
"It sure does! But, I'm not going to take it with them."  
  
"What? But Coelamon..."  
  
"After what you did for me, I'd like to show you!" Coelamon says as he glows and De-Digivolves. In a moment, another, smaller Digimon stands in his place. It looks like a weird looking tadpole with a straight line of hair sticking up and blue lines surrounding it. He's got just one claw on each leg. His red eyes show kindness.  
  
Charlie pulls out his DigiVice and analyses the new Digimon. "Betamon. An Amphibian Viral Rookie. His Electric Shock and Beta Slugger attacks are used only in self-defence, but can be quite powerful when needed to be."  
  
"Please let me join you, Jake. I promise you won't regret it," Betamon bows his head, asking humbly.  
  
"Betamon..." I say in awe of how he's changed, "Of course I will! I wouldn't want anyone else by my side."  
  
Betamon beams with joy and leaps into my arms. I happily welcome him and hug him back.  
  
"Jake, look!" Erin points. I see a glowing orb come floating towards me. I touch it and it becomes a DigiVice, like Tucker, Charlie and Leah's, but it's green. My own DigiVice and my own real partner!  
  
"This is great! I knew a Betamon was on my D-Card's information, but I never expected my partner to be the infamous 'Swamp Monster'!" I laugh. Everyone laughs with me as I pull Betamon into a stronger hug.  
  
A new partner. A new sister. Could life get any better for me now? Well, it could if we could just find out way home.  
  
And I bet that'll be soon.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
As always, please review! Like these stories? Check out some of my other work. My bet is that you'll like them, too. Be on the lookout for chapter 6, coming soon! 


	6. Swift As A Falcomon

Disclaimer: I do not own the idea of Digimon or the characters, but the kids are my own. Now please enjoy the next chapter...  
  
Digimon X: Game 6-Swift As A Falcomon  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
We've just exited another DigiBarrier into another area. It's a kind of mix between desert and forest. There are small houses in the distance, our next stop to rest. Charlie suggests that every time we come upon a village, we rest, restock and then continue on the journey. Sounds reasonable to me and the others, but Tucker, well...  
  
I get the impression that Tucker and Charlie don't like each other.  
  
People know me as Erin Hiwame back home in Tokyo. I come from a rich family, but sometimes, all the wealth and luxury can become a bit tiring. Even though you can buy anything you want, you can't put a price on friends. You want to belong with others, but you can't because of your status in life.  
  
Digimon seemed to unite people from all different walks of life. Maybe it also tied together wealthy and not so wealthy people. That's why I got into it: to show others that I wasn't as different as them because my family was rich. And to have fun. Maybe it was because of my belief in that that I'm now tied together with Tucker, Charlie, Leah and Jake in Digimon X, the new online RPG.  
  
My relationship with Jake seems to be the strongest out of all the others. He's young, and like me, am afraid that we'll never get out of here. He reminds me of my younger brother back home and how we're usually rivals, rather than friends. I took it upon myself to become his human guardian while we're here and, in a way, try to learn to be a better sister to not only my own brother, but to everyone. I even made a promise to him that I'd be his sister and that we'd get out of here soon.  
  
I'm not sure I'll be able to keep that promise, especially since I'm starting to doubt that we'll get out of the game.  
  
Everyone here has his or her own personal Digimon. Tucker has a Flamon that becomes Agunimon. Charlie has Bearmon that becomes Grizzmon when in danger. Leah's got Labramon that can become Seasarmon at any time. Even Jake has Betamon who can become Coelamon when threatened. Everyone's got their own Digimon but me. I hope that I get my partner soon.  
  
And I think I'll get my pretty soon.  
  
On the way to the village in the distance, the sun rises higher. It's probably almost noon. I can hear our stomachs growl, mine's especially loud.  
  
"Can we eat yet?" I ask the others.  
  
"No way," Tucker states, "Let's keep going to the village, then we'll get Bearmon to cook something up for us."  
  
"Takeyama, don't you hear our stomachs growl? We're all hungry and we haven't eaten since we left the Swamp Village," Charlie tells Tucker.  
  
"Hey! YOU'RE the one who suggested that we go straight to the village to rest and restock, Charlie! I'm just taking us to the place so we can eat lunch there!" Tucker says back.  
  
"The Digimon need to eat too or they'll be too pooped to fight! I'm just reconsidering my suggestion! So let's stop before we press on!"  
  
"No! We keep moving until we get there!"  
  
"I don't think you heard me Takeyama! Maybe this will make you listen?" Charlie curls up his fist.  
  
"Yeah, sure. And here's my friend to get you to listen!" Tucker likewise shows a fist, "Bring it on, Matsuhara!"  
  
"You're gonna regret not following my advice, Takeyama!" Charlie shouts as he rushes to Tucker with Tucker dashing towards him.  
  
"Guys, stop!" I say as I start walking towards them, "I just asked if we could eat sooner, but I can wait until we get to the village!" My words don't seem to get them to stop even as their partners hold them back from hurting each other.  
  
"Guys! I said, 'STOP'! And when someone says stop, you st—WHOAH!" I suddenly yelp as I meet the ground.  
  
"Erin! Are you okay?" Jake asks as he helps me up.  
  
"Yeah, Jake, I'm fine. But what happened?" I say as I get up.  
  
"Looks like you tripped over something, Erin," Labramon remarks as he points his paw to what looks like a yellow talon.  
  
"Hm? I wonder how this got here?" Leah says as bends down and begins to pull on the talon.  
  
"Leah! Let me help you with that!" Labramon says as he goes to help Leah pull. Soon I'm with the others pulling on the talon.  
  
"Let's all give it one big tug!" Charlie says, "On my count of three, all right?"  
  
"Hey! No way you're counting," I hear Tucker yell at him.  
  
"Fine! YOU count then, Takeyama."  
  
"Good. Okay, on three we give it our all. One...two...THREE!" Tucker screams as we all give a big pull and fall backwards as the thing that I tripped on flies up into the air and lands a few inches from Flamon.  
  
"What is it?" Jake asks and we all huddle around it.  
  
"A Digimon, obviously," Bearmon says as he begins to gently poke at the thing, "Come on, little Digimon, wake up."  
  
The Digimon appears to be kind of small. It has a white feathered body, with wings coming out of the sides. The talons are almost the same length of its body. Large tail feathers are at the back. It has some hair at the front, cut like Jake's, also white as the body. The beak is small and yellow and the face has a couple of war-paint marks on the cheeks. The Digimon's eyes are closed and it is breathing very faintly.  
  
Leah pulls out her DigiVice and analyses the Digimon. A screen comes up with the Digimon's information. "DemiFalcomon. A Rookie level, Data Bird Digimon. This Digimon, while small, is not to be underestimated in battle," she reads off the screen.  
  
"DemiFalcomon doesn't look too good, then," Betamon says as he gently lifts up the Digimon with his fins, offering it to someone to hold.  
  
"Poor thing," I say as I take it from him and hold it. It's bigger than my hands, but not as big as the other Digimon, "I wonder what happened to it? I hope it's okay."  
  
"Well, it is breathing, sort of," Charlie points out and I see that it's breathing slowly.  
  
"We have to help it! Bearmon, can you make something to help DemiFalcomon?" I ask Charlie's partner.  
  
"Sure! I think I heard somewhere of a medicine that can help revive Digimon like this. It's a mix of cacti water and flower petals, both of which are handly in the vicinity."  
  
"I'll get the cacti water, Jake and Betamon can help," Leah says as she heads off with Jake, Betamon and Labramon.  
  
"I'll get the flower petals. Flamon, let's go!" Tucker says as he begins to dash off. He then stops and turns around. "Um, what kind of flower petals, Bearmon?"  
  
"Red with green diamonds," Bearmon tells him.  
  
"Got it!" Tucker says as he heads off again.  
  
"Charlie..." I ask the only person who's left with me, "do you think it'll be okay?"  
  
"Yeah, it will. Bearmon's got the recipe for anything. He'll whip something up and then we'll find out what happened to it and see if we can help," Charlie tells me.  
  
"All right. I just wanted to know that," I whisper as I continue to look at DemiFalcomon and wonder what happened to the poor thing.  
  
"Hey! We're back!" Leah yells as she and her party come with the cacti water that's held in Betamon's mouth.  
  
"Great! Now all we need are those petals," Bearmon says.  
  
"Yo! Petals ahoy!" Tucker yells as he comes carrying a handful of flower petals.  
  
"Good, now give me those ingredients," Bearmon grabs the ingredients and takes out a makeshift bowl from one of his pouches. He puts the petals in and adds the water from Betamon's mouth. "Betamon, I hope you didn't add anything from your own mouth to this."  
  
"I didn't!" Betamon defends.  
  
"I hope not..." Bearmon mixes it together with his claws and lets it sit for a minute. He then motions for me to open DemiFalcomon's mouth. I comply and he pours the mixture into the Bird Digimon's mouth. It swallows and we wait for a result.  
  
The Digimon's eyes open slowly and it asks me, "W-w-where am I? Who are you?"  
  
"Who, me? I'm Erin Hiwame and my friends and I just saved you," I tell DemiFalcomon, who sounds like, and thanks to Leah's calculations, a girl.  
  
"You did? I can't thank you enough, then," DemiFalcomon says as she gets up and bows in gratitude.  
  
"It's no problem. But we're wondering why you were like that in the ground?"  
  
"Hm? Oh! I was...oh no!"  
  
"'Oh no'?" Tucker wonders, "What's this 'oh no'?"  
  
"My home is being attacked by renegade Digimon! They showed up a few days ago, scaring the villagers just for the fun of it! I went looking for help, but one of them attacked me and I fell! I don't know how long I was out of it, but I have to find help!"  
  
"Sounds like what happened to me a couple of days ago," Bearmon remarks, "But thankfully, these guys came and helped me save my home! I'm travelling with them because one of them is my partner!"  
  
"Really? You saved that Bearmon's village?" DemiFalcomon wonders.  
  
"Uh huh!" Tucker answers proudly, "And we helped defend Prairie Digimon from a Thundermon and solved the mystery of the Swamp Monster, which turned out to be Betamon here."  
  
"Will you do the same for my village?"  
  
"Of course! After all, it's all part of the..." Tucker begins, but we all glare at him and he stops in his tracks.  
  
"Part of the what?"  
  
"The...uh...business! Yeah, the stuff we do daily!"  
  
"Oh, thank you for helping me! Now I'll show you to the village, come on!" DemiFalcomon says as she begins to flap her wings, but they do little to get her off the ground, "Come on wings, fly, FLY!"  
  
"DemiFalcomon, you're still recovering from what happened. You can't fly yet," Bearmon points out.  
  
"Right, I forgot. Then we'll run. Follow me!" she says as we follow her to village in the distance.

* * *

The village is made up of small buildings made up of bricks, stones and other things. They look kind of beat down, probably because of the Digimon attacks.  
  
"HELL-OH!!" Tucker calls out into the village.  
  
"Ssshhh! What are you thinking, you moron?" Charlie hissingly whispers to Tucker, "First we find out what our enemy is, THEN we fight it!"  
  
"I'm just making sure the place is still populated!"  
  
"Well, do it more silently! First we need to find someone who'll help us with this."  
  
"Fine! Geez, you try to help and look what happens..."  
  
"That's not helping, Takeyama! That's trying to get us all killed!"  
  
"At least I'm not afraid to take them head on, unlike some of us."  
  
"You think I'm scared of fighting them? I'm not! I just think it's better to come up with a plan than go fighting blindly!"  
  
"Will you two just shut up? You're BOTH going to get us killed!" Leah tells them bluntly, "Let's just get into one of the buildings."  
  
"Come on, we'll go to my house," DemiFalcomon tells us as we follow her through the streets, "It's one of the only safe places in the village, a few of the Digimon are there and they'll be sure to help us."  
  
We continue to follow, but then duck behind a wall. "That's one of them," DemiFalcomon says as the Digimon she's afraid of moves around the buildings. It's small, purple, has spikes, many long arms and looks vaguely familiar from the Digimon Encyclopaedia, "There are five in total and they've been terrorising us since they came here."  
  
Charlie pulls out his DigiVice and analyses the Digimon. "Chrysalimon. Champion level. This Digimon is contained within a cocoon, which adds to it's defensive power. It's Data Crusher and Unconnect Buster attacks are almost certain to delete a Digimon so be extra careful when fighting against the Digimon."  
  
"They look harmless. What could they do that's so powerful to delete?" Tucker asks. His question is answered as the long arms of one of them attaches onto a nearby building and it yells "Unconnect Buster!" There's a surge of power through it's arms and into the building, where it deletes almost instantly. We all look on, shocked at what just happened.  
  
"I withdraw the question," Tucker says.  
  
"Hurry! My house is only a couple buildings away!" DemiFalcomon says as we begin to run only to be stopped by a Chrysalimon.  
  
"So, more pathetic little things for us to delete? Good! Hey guys! We got some live ones over here!" the Chrysalimon calls and the others show up.  
  
"Not good. Definitely not good," I say as Jake holds onto my hands and the Digimon begin to circle around us, "What do we do? Fight or run?"  
  
"I think the answer's obvious!" Tucker yells as tries to look for an opening in the circle, "Follow my lead and RUN!"  
  
We dash towards a small opening in the circle, Tucker and Flamon go through first, making it to the other side. "Hurry up!" he calls.  
  
Leah, Charlie and their Digmon follow suit. Now Jake, Betamon, DemiFalcomon and I are left.  
  
"Erin, I'm not sure I can do this," Jake says as clings to my waist.  
  
"Yes you can! Look at me, Jake! You can do this! Now go!" I shove him, Betamon and DemiFalcomon through the hole. I'm about to go next, but the Chrysalimon have cut me off.  
  
"So your friends escaped? No problem, we'll just go after them later!" they all say, "But first things first! Data Crusher!"  
  
They fire beams from their eyes and they hit me dead on.  
  
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" I yell as I feel myself become dizzy. "ERIN!!" I hear the others scream as they can only guess what happened to me. "Data Crusher!" I hear them scream again and the attack hits me again and I scream even louder. I collapse onto my stomach and feel pain throughout my body.  
  
"Want us to put you out of your misery? Fine! Unconnect Buster!" the Chrysalimon yell as I faintly see the arms reach out for me. They lightly touch me and send a shock through my body and all I see is darkness.

* * *

Am I dead? Did I die, leaving DemiFalcomon, Jake and the others? No, I'm not dead, I tell myself as I slowly open my eyes. I'm staring at the ceiling of a building, with the others beside me, looking down on me.  
  
"How do you feel, Erin?" Charlie asks.  
  
"D-dizzy," I reply as I try to get up, only to have my head spin and I'm forced to lay down, "What happened to me?"  
  
"You were hit by the Chrysalimon's Unconnect Buster. You were almost deleted," Leah says as she applies a damp cloth to my forehead, "Jake, Betamon and DemiFalcomon went ballistic on the Chrysalimon. We managed to scare them off and get you to safety."  
  
"We thought you were a goner," Flamon says as Tucker brings Jake over to me. Jake looks like he's about to cry.  
  
"Hey, Jake," I say slowly and grin at him. He bends over and gives me a hug.  
  
"I thought I'd lost you," Jake says as he cries into my shirt, "I didn't want to lose you. You take care of me here, so I can't lose you, Erin. I can't lose my sister."  
  
"It's okay, Jake, it's okay," I lift my arms up and hug him back, "You can't lose me, I promised I'd make sure you'd get home safely, remember? Just remember that and you'll know you can't ever lose me."  
  
"All right, Erin," Jake says as he gets up and takes his place with the others.  
  
"Where's DemiFalcomon?" I ask the others, "Where is she?"  
  
"She...she...she's gone," Tucker says.  
  
"Gone? Gone where?"  
  
"She's gone after the Chrysalimon to take care of them once and for all."  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"She kept saying that's the second time you saved her and that you risked your very life for her. She vowed to defeat the Chrysalimon or die trying."  
  
"She can't die! We're here to help her! We've got to..." I say as I begin to get up, but I drop back into bed, "Guys, help me! I've got to get to her!"  
  
"Erin, you almost died back there! Do you want to go through that again? This time you might not be so lucky and we'll lose you for good!" Charlie states, "And you know we can't lose one another while we're here. We'd have a lot of explaining to do to your folks."  
  
"Charlie, I HAVE to go! I need to help her! She went looking for help and found us! We helped her come back to health and now she's gone to risk it again to fight the very things that caused her and I almost certain death! I couldn't live with myself knowing that I couldn't help her when she went to fight on my behalf! Could you, Charlie? Could any of you?"  
  
They all take this in. And smile. "It's gonna be dangerous," Tucker says.  
  
"I know," I say.  
  
"We may have to fight and destroy the Digimon," Leah tells me.  
  
"I know."  
  
"It could be long and hard," Charlie says as he pulls me up from the bed and he wraps an arm around my waist and I do the same to his neck.  
  
"I know. But I'm ready to help DemiFalcomon."  
  
"Then what are we standing around here for? Let's go!" Tucker yells as we head out the door and go after DemiFalcomon.

* * *

We split into teams to look for DemiFalcomon and help her. Tucker and Flamon go one way, Leah and Labramon another. Jake, Betamon, Charlie and Bearmon all stay behind to help me. We search the village, looking for DemiFalcomon or the Chrysalimon.  
  
"You see them?" Betamon asks.  
  
"No, keep looking," Charlie replies.  
  
We search for a few minutes, then come upon her. DemiFalcomon, hiding behind a house.  
  
"Erin! You're okay! I'm so glad," she says, "But you have to get out of here! The Chrysalimon are everywhere and they could finish you off! Please, Erin, leave!"  
  
"No, DemiFalcomon. You went after these Digimon for my sake, now I'm helping you fight them for both our sakes!" I tell her.  
  
"All right, but you'll have to keep quiet!"  
  
"Quiet?" a voice comes, "You want quiet? I'll give you quiet!" the Chrysalimon says as he and all of his buddies come to our one point.  
  
"Here we go again," I say.  
  
"DemiFalcomon, look after Erin," Charlie says as he sits me down beside the wall and pulls out his DigiVice, "Let's rumble! Bearmon!"  
  
"Ready and waiting!" Bearmon says.  
  
"Betamon, ready to teach these guys a lesson?" Jake asks.  
  
"School is now in session!" Betamon answers.  
  
"Right! DIGIVOLVE!!" Charlie and Jake hold out their DigiVices and they begin to glow.  
  
"Bearmon Digivolve to..."  
  
"Betamon Digivolve to..."  
  
A small mountain of rocks surrounds Bearmon while a giant pillar of water rises and swallows Betamon. Light comes from within these entrapments, lasting for a few seconds, then stopping. The rocks and water fall down to the ground and Charlie and Jake's partners have now Digivolved.  
  
"Grizzmon!!"  
  
"Coelamon!!"  
  
"Let's take these guys down once and for all!" Grizzmon says.  
  
"Right with you!" Coelamon agrees.  
  
"Data Crusher!" the Chrysalimon fire those beams from their eyes, but the Digimon easily evade them, giving them time to attack.  
  
"Grizzly Slash!" Grizzmon slashes at one Chrysalimon.  
  
"Fossil Bite!" Coelamon bites at another, turning part of it into stone. This doesn't stop them as they retaliate.  
  
"Data Crusher!" they attack again, hitting them this time. The Digimon scream in pain as the attacks connect.  
  
"Coelamon, no!" Jake cries.  
  
"Grizzmon, hang in there!" Charlie tells Grizzmon.  
  
"We're not going out of commission that easily! Bear Blaster!" Grizzmon fires his beam at the Chrysalimon.  
  
"Ancient Bite!" Coelamon sends his own blast towards the cocooned Digimon. The attacks hit, but the Digimon seem unaffected by them.  
  
"No way!" Charlie says.  
  
"Way! Now move out of the way so we can finish off the red haired girl and the birdie!" the Chrysalimon charge past Grizzmon and Coelamon, heading straight for DemiFalcomon and me.  
  
"NO, ERIN!!" the others scream. I close my eyes and brace myself for the hit, but it doesn't connect. I open my eyes and see that DemiFalcomon has taken it for me as she falls down to the ground.  
  
"DemiFalcomon!" I cry. She took that hit for me on purpose! I pick her up and look her in the eyes.  
  
"At least...I went out...defending someone...I cared about..." she says, gasping for breath.  
  
"DemiFalcomon..." I say as I see how bad she took the hit, "Please, don't leave us...me now! Stay, please!"  
  
"That's one down," the Chrysalimon say as they begin to reach out their arms for me.  
  
"NO! DEMIFALCOMON!!" I scream and hold her tight. Suddenly, I feel warmth originating from her. She rises out of my arms and the Chrysalimon retract their arms. She's glowing with light and has a determined look in her eyes. We've seen this before: it's the light of Digivolution!  
  
That means DemiFalcomon's Digivolving to save me!  
  
"DemiFalcomon Digivolve to..." A small tornado comes and wraps itself around DemiFalcomon. There's a large flash of light, then the light and the wind die down and in it's place stands a larger version of DemiFalcomon, but with a longer body, four bigger talons in both front and back, the wings and tail feathers are larger, and the head looks more like a great eagle.  
  
"Falcomon!!"  
  
"Falcomon?" I stare in wonder. This was Falcomon's Champion form?  
  
Jake pulls out his DigiVice for analysastion. "Falcomon, a Champion Data type Bird Digimon. Few are said to exist in the Digital World, and they are known for their graceful flying. Attacks include Wing Crusher and Falcon Striker."  
  
"Ah, a Falcomon! This should be interesting, then," the Chrysalimon say as they prepare to attack again.  
  
"Get on my back, Erin and hold on tight," Falcomon tells me.  
  
"All right," I comply and get on her back, holding on to her feathers.  
  
"Here we go!" Falcomon yells as we launch off the ground and fly around.  
  
"Data Crusher!" the Chrysalimon launch their eye beams, but Falcomon's too fast for them.  
  
"Try this! Wing Crusher!" Falcomon flies in fast and slices two of the Chrysalimon in half, deleting them immediately.  
  
"Whoa!" I can hear Jake say, "That's so cool, Erin!"  
  
"I know! Falcomon, you're amazing!" I tell Falcomon.  
  
"It's not over yet! Hang on!" Falcomon dives again towards two more Chrysalimon.  
  
"Unconnect Buster!" they launch their arms in an attempt to delete us. We dodge in and out of the arms and land on top of one of the buildings.  
  
"Grizzmon! Coelamon! Now's your chance!" I yell to the other Digimon as Falcomon and I take off again, fighting against the arms.  
  
"I see what you're doing!" Charlie says, "Grizzmon, you heard her! Attack!"  
  
"Got it! Grizzly Slash!" Grizzmon slashes again at a Chrysalimon, weakening it.  
  
"Coelamon! Go get them!" Jake orders.  
  
"Fossil Bite!" Coelamon bites at another Chrysalimon.  
  
"Falcomon, let's take the last one!" I tell the Digimon I'm riding.  
  
"Hear you loud and clear! Wing Crusher!" Falcomon slices the last Chrysalimon, but it seems to not work that time.  
  
"I don't get it! We were able to beat the other two easily! Why can't we do the same?" I wonder aloud.  
  
"They have cocoons for extra defence, remember? We need to combine our attacks into one strong blast to beat them for good!" Charlie yells.  
  
"Then let's do it!" Grizzmon says as he prepares himself to attack.  
  
"Everyone, on my mark, attack at once with energy attacks!" Charlie commands, "Ready?"  
  
"Yeah!" we all yell.  
  
"NOW!!"  
  
"Bear Blaster!"  
  
"Ancient Bite!"  
  
"Falcon Striker!"  
  
The three attacks' combined energy penetrates the Chrysalimon's defence and are able to destroy them completely.  
  
"All right! We did it!" I hug Falcomon as we come down to the ground and I get off her.  
  
"That was great, guys!" Jake cheers as he hugs Coelamon.  
  
"Amazing stuff, Grizzmon!" Charlie says as he playfully punches Grizzmon.  
  
"You were just astounding, Falcomon," I tell the Bird Digimon, "I'm honoured to have flown with you."  
  
"It's I who should be thanking you, Erin. You saved me three times now, I'm eternally grateful to you," Falcomon says as she De-Digivolves with the other Digimon, "I just wish I could repay you somehow."  
  
Suddenly, I see a light glowing in front of us. I touch it with no hesitation. It becomes a DigiVice, a light touch of pink where the others' are coloured.  
  
"I guess this is a good way to repay me, DemiFalcomon," I tell her, "You can travel with me as my partner!"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Of course. I wouldn't want any other mon to share my adventures with. And I look forward to flying with you more."  
  
DemiFalcomon then lightly nips at my cheek, probably her way of showing gratitude. Charlie, Bearmon, Jake and Betamon all come around me and welcome DemiFalcomon to our little group.

* * *

Around an hour later, we are all gathered at the edge of the village, facing all the grateful villagers.  
  
"Thank you so very much for getting rid of those awful Chrysalimon," one of the Digimon says to us, "But we are sad to see DemiFalcomon go."  
  
"She'll be with us, in good care," I assure the Digimon.  
  
"That's good to know," the Digimon replies, "DemiFalcomon, you take care now. You, and the other Digimon, must work together with these kids. Together, I predict you will do some great things."  
  
"I will," DemiFalcomon tells the Digimon as she hops onto my shoulder.  
  
"Before we go, though, can you give us directions? We're looking for a way out of the Digital World," Leah tells the Digimon.  
  
"Out of the Digital World? There is no way out of the Digital World that I know of."  
  
"That's what we're afraid of," Tucker says.  
  
"...but I think there may be somebody who may be able to help you."  
  
"Really? Where?" Jake asks.  
  
"In Digitropolis."  
  
"Digi-what-opolis?" I wonder.  
  
"The big Digimon city on this continent. It's quite a ways away, though. I'd say about six or seven areas east?"  
  
"Who can we look for there?" Charlie questions.  
  
"Try the Library. They have records of pretty much anything you'll want to know. Digimon, directories, histories... They might have some information there that might help you."  
  
"Thanks," I thank the Digimon.  
  
"Remember, work together or you will fail!"  
  
"We will! Bye!" Tucker says as we head off.  
  
"BYE!!" All the Digimon wave as we go onto the next area, our team now complete.  
  
"Y'know, we need a name for these things," I tell the others as I hold up my DigiVice.  
  
"You're right. But what to call them?" Tucker wonders.  
  
"How about D-Bases?" Charlie suggests.  
  
"Nah. Doesn't sound good."  
  
"Maybe D-Evolvers?" Jake offers.  
  
"Uh-uh."  
  
"Perhaps...D-Coders?" Leah adds.  
  
"Hm, D-Coders...Yeah, that's good!" Tucker says, "From now on, these DigiVices will be our D-Coders! And together with our Digimon, they'll help us on our long and harsh journey through the Digital World!"  
  
"Yeah!!" We all cheer.  
  
Our team is completed. We have a destination to go to. We're looked upon as heroes by a few Digimon. We'll continue our journey here, becoming heroes in the eyes of all the Digimon. And one day, I'll keep my promise to Jake. We will all go home. It's all really simple.  
  
I just hope it doesn't become that difficult to accomplish.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
I hope you all enjoyed this part of the story and will continue to do so. Please remember to review this chapter! 


	7. Mountain Madness

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Digimon or any of the characters, but the children are my creation. Now let us rejoin the group a little bit after DemiFalcomon joined...  
  
Digimon X: Game 7-Mountain Madness  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
It's been about three days since we found Erin's partner and were given directions to Digitropolis. The journey there hasn't been so good. We've had to fend off against a couple of Digimon trying to attack us. Bearmon has had few supplies to cook with so we're hungry most of the time. Not to mention all the fights Charlie and I have, the stupid baka...  
  
And don't tell anyone, but I haven't the slightest idea where we are.  
  
Oh no, don't get me wrong, I know where we are. At least in the large sense. We're in, as the Digimon call it, the Digital World. To me and the others I lead, the others being Leah, Jake, Erin and Charlie, it's Digimon X, a video game we have been trapped in after winning a contest to be the first to play it. Upon coming here, we've had to find our partners (our own Digimon we raised back home) and fend off other Digimon seeking to harm us or other Digimon who help us. After finding Erin's partner, we received directions to go to Digitropolis, the big Digimon city, where there, we hope, we'll find some clues on why we were brought here and how we can get home.  
  
At the moment, we're climbing the Hito Mountains, a large area with many high, rocky mountains. We just started climbing twenty minutes ago and I don't think we're even a tenth of the way up. We're all clinging together as we climb slowly upward, with me and Flamon in front, of course. Jake is holding onto my vest, Erin's behind him, encouraging him, Charlie is behind her and Leah is at the back, much to my dismay. If I had the choice, she'd be up here behind me instead of at the back, but she insisted that she and Labramon watch the back and in case she finds anything I missed, informs me immediately.  
  
I grunt as I pull myself up onto another stepping stone, hoping the others will copy my pattern of scaling. I've rock-climbed once or twice after Grandpa signed me up for it and know the basics. It's too bad I just don't have any rope or cables to hold the others or me up. One slip and it's all over as we fall back down, with Leah being the first to suffer.  
  
No! I won't let that happen to her or the others!  
  
"Leah! Do you see anything?" I call to her as I continue my ascent to the top.  
  
"Yes!" she calls back, "There's a large flat rock about one fifth of the way up the mountain!"  
  
"How far?"  
  
"I'd estimate we'd be there in forty minutes if we hurry!" she replies and everyone groans at how much farther we have to go.  
  
"How long and strong is it?"  
  
"Long enough for us to all fit and strong enough to hold all our weight!"  
  
"All right, we'll rest there! Come on, everybody!" I urge them on and we continue to climb.  
  
I started counting how many rocks I passed as we started up the mountain earlier to make the trek seem shorter. I lost track when I asked Leah what she saw. No matter now, I think, it's not like it's important.  
  
"Hey Tucker?" Jake asks me.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Can we play a game?"  
  
"Sure, what do you want to play?" I say as I grab another rock and pull myself up.  
  
"I Spy?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. But I'd rather not play now, Jake. I'm the head of the line, it's my job to find which stones are good to climb on and I can't be distracted. Play with Erin or Betamon or somebody else right now."  
  
"Oh, okay," Jake says, "Erin, you go first."  
  
The game is just one spying a rock after another. At least it makes the time go faster. Sometime after Labramon spied yet another rock, we made it to the large rock Leah saw. We all pull each other up onto the rock and just rest for now. Jake and Betamon are looking across the area. Erin and DemiFalcomon are lying on their backs, eyes closed. Charlie and Bearmon are thinking up recipes for us to eat with what we have. Leah and Labramon are looking at the mountain and thinking about, well whatever really smart people think about. I tell Flamon to look after Jake for a moment as I go over to Leah.  
  
"Hey," I tell her.  
  
"Hey, Tucker," she replies.  
  
"What are you thinking about?"  
  
"I'm just trying to calculate how far up the mountain is, how long it would take us to reach the top, what might be up there...you know. Those kind of things."  
  
"Labramon any help?"  
  
"I'm helping just fine, thank you!" Labramon says indignantly, "Although my brain does hurt thinking about it..."  
  
"That's okay," Leah places her hand on her partner's shoulder and reassures him, "You can just look like you're helping if it's too much for you."  
  
"All right," he says.  
  
"Never was a smart person," I say to Leah walking so I was beside her looking up at the mountain, "Never could understand figures and numbers and how they match up into data and stuff like that. But I always did kind of admire how others could understand and apply those things."  
  
"Admire?" Leah asks.  
  
"Yeah. I kinda like smart people," I say quietly as I look at her and all the things I like about her. Then I say even quieter, "That's one of the reasons I like you so much."  
  
She looks at me suddenly and says, "What?"  
  
"What? What's with the 'what?'"  
  
"You said something."  
  
"I did? What did I say?" I ask as I can feel my cheeks burn hot as I think she may have heard what I said about her.  
  
"You said something about..."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Never mind. It's nothing important," she says and we remain silent for a moment as we look to the ground. Did she hear what I said about me liking her? I hope not. Maybe she did. Does she hate me? Or do I think she hates me? Or does she think I think she hates me? Or is it the other way around? I can't take the silence. I turn to ask her, but she then looks up at the mountain and says, "Okay, I think I know how much farther we are to the top. If we want to get there before dark, we need to start climbing again now."  
  
"I'll go rise the others," I say as I begin to leave.  
  
"Tucker?"  
  
"Yeah?" I freeze, turn around and wait for what she has to say. Maybe she's going to say she hates me. I brace myself for what she is about to say.  
  
"Understanding stuff like this is harder than you think," she smiles at me and I blush a little. I turn to get the others and breathe a sigh of relief when I have my back turned to her.  
  
I really could have sworn she heard me then.

* * *

It's twenty minutes later and we're again climbing the mountain. Leah tells me that we're about a quarter of the way up. Jeez, how big IS this mountain?  
  
Man, doing this is exhausting. I'm getting tired and my vision begins to swoon. I haven't eaten yet, so it gets worse since as my stomach growling joins to increase my fatigue. I need sleep. I need food. But I have to keep going. To make sure we all get to the top.  
  
I reach for the next rock and grab it. I begin to swoon as well and I don't think I can keep my grip. I make the mistake of looking down and immediately see a long drop from where we are. Fear grips me and my grip loosens a bit. Now with this added, I don't think I can stay awake and hold on.  
  
"Tucker!!" Erin screams.  
  
"What's going on?" Jake asks.  
  
"Come on, Takeyama! Don't let go or we'll all take the plunge!" Charlie yells at me.  
  
"Tucker, please! Stay conscious!" Leah tells me.  
  
"You can do it Tucker!" Flamon assures me, "Don't give up!"  
  
Right. I can't let go. The others are counting on me. I harden my grip and begin climbing again. Soon after, I reach another rock. I pull myself onto it, but I push a little against it. Before I know, it, the rock has moved inward, vanishing from my feel and I'm left hanging by a previous rock.  
  
"Waaahhh!!" I scream as I clutch my rock with my hand. I see the ground again and feel the fear again.  
  
"Tucker!!" the others all scream.  
  
I'm shaking now and my mind's a panic. I never told anyone this, but my greatest fear is heights. It all started back with the rock-climbing lessons at the mall. I was kind of stubborn back then and when they offered the ropes, I didn't take any and thought I was good enough without them. I was almost at the top and I was so proud of myself then. I would be the first kid to reach the top without any ropes. I reached for a hold and my foot must've slipped because the next thing I knew was that I was looking to the ground and how it was so far down. Even though I knew it was an artificial training wall, I was still scared. I tried to grab another hold, but my hand wouldn't move since I was looking down. One of the instructions actually came up and got me down before I hurt myself. After that, I refused to climb anything except stairs again.  
  
Why was I climbing this mountain after that experience, especially since I was at the front? To show Charlie I was brave and I was able to be leader? To impress Leah? To gain the others' approval? No. It was because I wanted to go home and one of the many obstacles I'd face was this mountain.  
  
This would probably be my last obstacle if I didn't snap out of this fear.  
  
"Tucker! Look!" Leah yells and I snap out of it temporarily. I look around and see a kind of entrance above where the rock I held was. It looked large enough to stand up and walk through. I had to reach it. It was my only way out of here.  
  
I begin climbing again, thinking only of reaching that entrance. Closer, closer, I think. I'm almost there. I reach for the ledge and pull myself onto it. I soon help the others up and we're all there. I think of what might've happened had Leah not called me to this entrance. I pant and shake as I breathe in to calm myself.  
  
"Hey guys!" Flamon calls as he looks further into this hole, "This looks like it goes deep into the mountain."  
  
"Well then, who's up for a little spleunking?" Charlie asks the others, "You up for some cave exploration, Takeyama? Or should I take it from here?"  
  
I heard what he said. "No way, Charlie!" I say I get back up immediately, "I'll keep leading, thank you. Come on, let's go."  
  
The cave seems more a tunnel than an actual cave as we go through, following Flamon's fire.  
  
"Tucker, why did you freak out back there?" Flamon asks me. I tell him why I freaked the way I did. He replies, "Oh? It must've really killed you to do something like that."  
  
"Yeah, it did," I admit, "Hey Flamon? What's your biggest fear?"  
  
"Mine? Hmm..." he thinks for a minute, "Digimon don't really have fears, I think. But I do have one big fear."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Being unable to protect my partner when he is in danger. And not being with him when he needs me. Wait, does that count as two fears?" Flamon asks.  
  
"I guess, but it's okay buddy," I say as I bop him gently on the noggin, "Don't worry, you won't ever be unable to protect me. I promise that I'll stick with you forever."  
  
"And I promise that I'll stick with you forever, Tucker," Flamon smiles. We ram fists as a show of friendship, sealing the promise.  
  
The ceiling seems to get farther away just a couple minutes after we begin walking through. Flamon's light reveals why. There's a kind of track, with carts at where we are. There are a couple of decent sized carts just a few feet away.  
  
"Cool! Mine carts!" Jake exclaims.  
  
"'Mine carts'?" Betamon wonders, "What's a mine cart?"  
  
"It's something you transport supplies in. It follows a kind of railroad track which directs the cart where to go," Leah explains.  
  
"Oh yeah! I remember!" Bearmon says, "The Hito Mountains are famous for not only their splendour and majesty, but for their mines as well! In fact, many things we Digimon need come from these mines!"  
  
"Where do you think the cart goes?" Erin asks.  
  
"There's only one way to find out!" I tell her as I move toward the carts, "Come on!"  
  
"Takeyama, how do you know those things are safe? And what about why they're down here in the first place?" Charlie asks me.  
  
"Look, there's probably no other way up. It probably leads to the top of the mountain and there is no way I'm going back out on the mountainside again! And besides, it's an adventure! You're supposed to take risks like this in a game."  
  
"But it's not a game, Tucker," Leah tells me, "It's reality! What if Charlie's right? What if something bad happens?"  
  
"Look, do you all want to go home or not? This could be a way to the other side of the mountain. The closer we get to the end of this area, the closer we are to Digitropolis and finding a way home. Now are you with me or not?"  
  
The others all look at each other. There's silence for a moment and then they all agree.  
  
"All right! Let's do it!" I cheer. We pile into the carts. Flamon, Leah, Labramon and I are in the first cart. Jake, Betamon, Erin and DemiFalcomon are in the second and Charlie and Bearmon have a cart to themselves. We wait for something to happen, but nothing does.  
  
"How do you start this thing?" Jake asks.  
  
"There's probably a switch somewhere which gets the carts to move up," Bearmon informs us, "Maybe it's outside the carts."  
  
"I'll go check," I say as I hop out of the head cart to look for some kind of switch. I see some kind of button on one of the tunnel walls. "Ah, here it is!"  
  
I push it and the carts start moving. I quickly hop back into my cart with Leah, Labramon and Flamon and can't wait for what's going to happen next. The carts creak forward on the track. They start slowly moving upward, climbing like a snail up a small hill. Then, they start moving faster upwards. Faster and faster they go. We turn left, then right, then right again, then left as we go faster and upwards more. We zigzag like this a couple more times and then we come to a kind of elevator, which lifts us up a few meters and we continue to move up, going left and right. We begin to see Digimon mining with pickaxes, shovels and even their own hands and claws as we pass. Drimogemons, Elecmons, Ogremons, Golemons. We see quite a few more as the carts slowly begin to slow as we come up a big hill. Soon, we reach the top and the carts stop. We get out and start to look around. The room is quite wide, with a high ceiling and a couple of rocky walls. It's big enough so you can hear your echo.  
  
"Wow! This place is huge!" I remark.  
  
"Yeah, it sure is," Flamon agrees.  
  
"Hey! You there!" a voice cries out and all the Digimon who are mining come to surround us.  
  
"Uh oh!"  
  
"What business do you have in the Hito Mines?" the voice asks as its owner comes forward. It's a Tortomon. I pull out my D-Coder and analyse the Digimon. His data comes up on a screen.  
  
"Tortomon, a Vaccine Reptile Champion Digimon. His Spinning Attack and Strong Carapace will make your head spin if you tick him off!" I read from the D-Coder's information. I put it away and put my hands up and walk forward saying, "We mean you no harm. My name's Tucker Takeyama and these are my friends. We're trying to get to the next area, but to do that we have to come over the Hito Mountains."  
  
"Then you should have gone OVER the Mountains, not through them!" Tortomon voice booms, "Anyone who dares come into the mines without permission granted shall suffer the consequences! Prepare to meet your doom, Tucker Takeyama!" Tortomon retracts into his shell and begins to spin rapidly. Flamon gets in front of me, ready to defend the others and me.  
  
"Wait, Tortomon!" One of the miner Digimon say, "Maybe they can help us!"  
  
"We need no help from outsiders! We are fine on our own!" Tortomon says.  
  
"All of out attempts so far have failed! Maybe with these new Digimon, we can succeed!"  
  
Tortomon thinks this for a minute as he spins. He stops spinning and comes out of his shell. "Fine, we'll give them a chance to help us. Should they fail, I shall take them all out, starting with Tucker Takeyama!"  
  
"Thank you!" I say, "But who are you?"  
  
The Digimon who defended us comes forth and reveals himself. It looks like a small cat with tiger stripes on it's tail, back, arms, and a bit of the front, brown glove paws and yellow eyes. "I am Mikemon, one of the head miners here in the Hito Mines," the Digimon introduces himself.  
  
Erin pulls out her D-Coder and reads Mikemon's information. "Mikemon, a Champion Data Beast Digimon. You don't want to cross this kitty's path with its Cat Claw and Meatball Punch attacks!"  
  
"Ah!" Mikemon says as kind of does a double take looking at us, "DigiVices, tamed Digimon, creatures who are not Digimon, but are from another world! You must be the DigiDestined!"  
  
"The Digi-who?" I ask.  
  
"The DigiDestined! The prophesied ones who will come to the Digital World to help right its many wrongs!"  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Leah waves her hands in the air, "We're not the DigiDestined! We came here by accident! We're just trying to get home!"  
  
"But you must be!" Mikemon insists.  
  
"We're not prophesied heroes or hardcore warriors or anything! I doubt any of us, especially Takeyama, has the ability to save a world," Charlie adds.  
  
"Hey! I could save the world!" I reply indignantly.  
  
Charlie snorts. "Sure you could, Takeyama."  
  
"To prove it, we're going to help these Digimon with their problem! Especially me! I'm gonna make you eat those words, Charlie!" I clench my fists and glare at him. How I HATE this guy!  
  
"Please, save your fighting spirit for later, for we have much to do!" Mikemon tells us as he signals for us to follow him. We comply and he leads us further up the tunnel.  
  
"Many days ago, a large and powerful Golemon came to the Hito Mountains," Mikemon explains to us, "He demanded that we mine for him. We at first refused to mine for such a bad Digimon, but he threatens our families and demands that we do so or he'll ruin our business and bring down the Hito Mountains, starting with this one!"  
  
"How can one Digimon bring down a bunch of mountains?" DemiFalcomon asks.  
  
"He is larger and stronger than other Golemon. Some say he is an Ultimate in Champion form!"  
  
"So what you want us to do is bring down Golemon so he won't bring down the mountains and destroy your families," Leah says.  
  
"Yes! That is exactly it."  
  
"Why would he want all of you to mine only for him?" Charlie wonders.  
  
"Did you forget the many minerals that come here that are essential to a Digimon's life? He must be using all of it to power himself up!" Bearmon answers.  
  
"When does he come here?" Erin asks.  
  
"He comes here around lunchtime to check on how we're doing and to bring back some more minerals to his domain," Mikemon says.  
  
"So he comes here around lunchtime to bring back the minerals. I wonder..." Leah begins.  
  
"Wonder what?" I ask, "Do you have a plan?"  
  
"Maybe...yes! But we're going to need everyone's help to pull this off."  
  
"Sweet! So what's the plan?"

* * *

The plan is that when Golemon comes in for his daily retrieval, Mikemon will say they have nothing. When Golemon gets angry and tries to crush Mikemon, Mikemon will lead him to the mine carts, where Erin, DemiFalcomon, Charlie and Bearmon will be hiding. They'll launch a small attack in order for Golemon's back to be turned against us. When it looks like they'll be defeated, Jake and Betamon will splash water on him and he'll be weakened temporarily. Then Leah, Seasarmon and the miner Digimon will fight him and Agunimon will deliver the final blow. Ooh, this sounds like fun!  
  
I can hear Golemon yelling at Mikemon now as Flamon and I hide with Leah and Seasarmon in one of the mine carts close to where Golemon will come from. I can hear Leah breathing slowly, trying to calm herself with deep breaths. I can't understand why she'd do that when I'm the one all excited about what we're going to do.  
  
"Leah?" I ask her.  
  
"What, Tucker?"  
  
"Are you having second thoughts about this?"  
  
"No. Of course not...well, maybe."  
  
"Don't worry, it'll work. I trust you on stuff like this. After all, you're a smart person."  
  
"It's one of the things you like about me so much, right?" she asks.  
  
I freeze, awkward on what to say. She heard me back when I was talking to her when we were resting outside the mountain! Oh, man!  
  
"Uh, yeah," I quietly admit.  
  
"Well, Tucker, you're stubborn, initiative, a bit dense and somewhat bold," she tells me. Am I supposed to take that as an insult? Then she adds, "That's a couple of the things I like about you."  
  
My heart beats faster. She likes me back? As a friend, a leader or something more? I'm about to ask her when Mikemon and Golemon come charging in.  
  
"I'll teach you to not give me what I want!" Golemon's voice screams as he raises his fist. Leah gives a swift motion to Charlie, Erin and their partners as they come out from behind the cart.  
  
"There's no way we're going to let you do this to this poor Digimon!" Erin defends as DemiFalcomon hops off her shoulder and gets ready to fight.  
  
"Prepare yourself for a world of hurt, buddy!" Charlie taunts as Bearmon strikes a kind of battle pose. Both Charlie and Erin take out their D- Coders and hold them in front of them.  
  
"DIGIVOLVE!!" they yell and the D-Coders glow.  
  
"Bearmon Digivolve to..." A mountain of rocks surround Bearmon as he glows.  
  
"DemiFalcomon Digivolve to..." A small typhoon engulfs a glowing DemiFalcomon.  
  
There's an bright light coming from within the rock pile and the tornado which holds still for a few seconds before the rocks and wind burst outward and two Champion Digimon now stand before Golemon.  
  
"Grizzmon!!"  
  
"Falcomon!!"  
  
"Humph! You'll be the first to suffer! Rock Punch!!" Golemon thrusts his fist forward into Grizzmon, but he manages to evade.  
  
"Grizzly Slash!!" Grizzmon slashes at Golemon, but it does no effect.  
  
"Falcon Striker!!" Falcomon zooms into Golemon, but it equally does no damage.  
  
"Ha ha ha! You thought that could work? My armour is as thick as a rock! It brings up my defensive power! Do you honestly think attacking me like that could stop me?" Golemon taunts.  
  
"No, but this will!" Jake yells as he and Betamon run behind the attacking Digimon, "Go Betamon!"  
  
"Water Tower!!" Betamon shoots a stream of water at Golemon's back.  
  
"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!" Golemon shouts as he falls to his knees and grips his back in pain.  
  
"NOW!!" Leah yells as the rest of us charge in to fight Golemon. There are claws flying and beams firing as all the Digimon dish out payback against Golemon. It seems like we're going to win, but Golemon manages to repel some of the attacks.  
  
"Sulphur Fume!!" Golemon jets out a purple mist out of the holes in his back and it strikes all who are near him. I still haven't moved from my spot, so Flamon and I are shielded by the cart's size. The others inhale the fumes and become paralysed.  
  
"Can't...move..." Mikemon mutters as he is stuck on his back on the floor.  
  
"Forgot that...Sulphur Fume...paralyses as well as damages..." Leah notes, "Why didn't I...remember before we...did this?"  
  
"HA HA HA HA!! Who else dares stand against the mighty Golemon?" Golemon roars defiantly, "Who dare rise up against me now?"  
  
"We do!" I yell as Flamon and I jump out from behind the cart, "You're not going to get away with hurting our friends!"  
  
"Oh really? And you are supposed to stop me?"  
  
"No...but he is!" I point at Flamon, who gets into a fighting stance, "Get 'im, Flamon!"  
  
Flamon charges into action. First he tries a Flame Fist, but its no use. Then he tries a couple of kicks, it still doesn't do anything.  
  
"Come on, Flamon!" I cheer my partner on. I then feel something grab my leg. I turn around and see the others, all struggling to move. Charlie is holding onto my leg.  
  
"Tucker...get out of here..." Leah pants.  
  
"We failed...you have to escape..." Erin agrees.  
  
"We were foolish to try...and stop this guy..." Jake adds.  
  
"Why do this...Takeyama?" Charlie asks.  
  
"We all agreed to help these Digimon become free and stop Golemon from destroying the mountain," I tell them.  
  
"It's impossible to stop...Golemon..." Mikemon tells me, "We should never have...tried..."  
  
"Maybe we were...meant to serve him..." Tortomon agrees.  
  
I look at all the Digimon and the others, all paralysed and weak. "No! It's not impossible to stop a Digimon, just difficult. We have to find his weak point, so we can defeat him! You tried to stop him many times and failed. You recruited us to help you stop him once and for all and now you're just giving up? A Digimon never gives up! I know this from personal experience and training with Flamon back home. I've lost a lot of battles, but I didn't give up and neither did Flamon! He and I will stop Golemon in his tracks permanently or we'll die trying! I will not give up!!" I explain as I reach for my D-Coder, which glows fiercely, "Flamon!!"  
  
Flamon looks over from the fight with Golemon to look at me. Golemon also stops for a moment to look at me.  
  
"Kick his butt! DIGIVOLVE!!" I thrust my DigiVice in front of me and it sends its light to Flamon, who absorbs it and glows brightly.  
  
"Flamon Digivolve to..." A giant whirlpool of fire envelops my partner as a light shines from within, forcing me to shield my eyes. It holds for a few seconds before it fades and the fire bursts outwards and reveals, "Agunimon!!"  
  
"So you Digivolved, huh? No big deal. I'll still destroy you! Rock Punch!!" Golemon launches a fist at Agunimon.  
  
"Pyro Punch!!" Agunimon launches his own fist at Golemon. The fists clash and it causes both Digimon to fly back. Agunimon and Golemon both land on their feet.  
  
"Rock Ball!!" Golemon reaches into the very earth itself and pulls out a gigantic rock and tosses it at Agunimon, "Can you escape that, Agunimon? HA HA HA!!"  
  
"Pyro Darts!!" Agunimon launches flaming darts at the rock ball which do no damage to it and it keeps coming. It lands on Agunimon and he's forced into the ground. He can't move and it looks like he's out of the fight.  
  
"What a pathetic attempt! I'm going to squash you just like a Bugmon before I move onto your friend and those other ones that defied me!" Golemon taunts as he moves closer towards me and I inch away.  
  
I gotta get him away from the others, but how? I ask myself. I look around frantically. There! A tunnel which shines light!  
  
"Hey, Rock Head!" I call him, "Follow me if you wanna destroy me!" I immediately run for the tunnel with Golemon not far behind me. I run like there's no tomorrow. About a minute of running later, I'm met with the end of the tunnel, which drops out to the outside. I look out, judging from the height, I'm pretty close to the top.  
  
"No one calls me a 'Rock Head'!" I hear Golemon coming from the tunnel.  
  
I quickly grab the edge and start climbing again. I just hope I don't look down. Don't look down, don't look down, I tell myself. You have to do this to save the others. I continue to climb for a couple minutes. I pause for a moment and look down below to see if Golemon's behind me. Although I'm scared by the tremendous height I'm at, he's not there. I'm still ahead of him.  
  
"Phew!" I breathe a sigh of relief, but I sigh too soon as Golemon's hands reach out from the mountain, one on each side of me. They clamp me and hold me down to the mountain. I see Golemon's head emerge.  
  
"You honestly think you could escape me? I, who can bend the soil to my will? Ha! To me, you're nothing but a pathetic little Bugmon that I can squish easily," he taunts as he pulls me closer into the mountain. I feel immense pain from both the pressing of the mountain and Golemon's hands. I feel the rock cut into my skin. I scream and he just laughs, "After I'm done with you, I'm going to finish off your little friends! HA HA HA HA!!"  
  
At that moment, Agunimon bursts from the left side of me as rock falls to the ground. He's holding onto a strong rock as he leans outwards. Both Golemon and I gasp.  
  
"No one hurts Tucker! Pyro Darts!!" Agunimon launches more flaming darts and they hit Golemon's arms. He screams in pain and has to pull himself back into the mountain, but in doing so he releases me and I begin to fall.  
  
"TUCKER!!" Agunimon screams as I fall downwards. He leaps off the cliff and grabs my leg. I pull him into a big hug.  
  
"Agunimon! I thought you were out of the fight," I say as we fall.  
  
"You conquered your fear of heights, so I had to conquer my fear of not being able to protect my partner," Agunimon tells me.  
  
"Agunimon..." I feel something warm fly from my eyes, "I guess we're going down together." I smile faintly.  
  
"Yeah," he agrees, "But there's no one I'd rather go down with."  
  
I grip him tightly, close my eyes and wait for the ground to meet us. I feel a quick bump and decide that this must be death. I open my eyes and see Erin's back facing me.  
  
"Erin?! What are you..." I begin to ask.  
  
"Saving you, of course," she smiles and pats what carries us, "Good job, Falcomon. Let's get them back to the others."  
  
We're flying on Falcomon? I look out and see the large wings flap as Erin, Agunimon and I head back towards the entrance where I came from. I get off and thank both of them.  
  
"Let's go finish Golemon off!" I crack my knuckles and we head off to meet the others. Golemon is back there and Leah and the others are fending him off.  
  
"Tucker!" she exclaims as her eyes light up and her mouth opens in a wide smile, "I thought you were..."  
  
"Me too, but we'll talk later," I assure her, "Agunimon, get back in there!"  
  
"Right!" Agunimon and Falcomon head off and join in the attack to bring Golemon down.  
  
"Jake! Get Betamon to spill all the water he can!" I order Jake.  
  
"Got it! Betamon, think you can do it?" Jake asks his partner.  
  
"Let me answer that for you! Water Tower!!" Betamon's Water Tower attack is not just a power stream now, no, it's like a giant wave that splashes over Golemon, weakening him quite nicely.  
  
"ARGH!!" he screams in agony.  
  
"Now, let's try this again. Agunimon, finish him off!" I command my partner.  
  
"Can do! Everyone step back!" Agunimon demands and everyone does. Golemon tries to get up, but he falls back down.  
  
"You can't do this to me! You wouldn't!" Golemon pleads desperately.  
  
"Oh, but I would! This is for harming my partner! PYRO TORNADO!!" Agunimon begins to whirl around, faster and faster, until a giant tornado of fire emanates from his body and it heads for Golemon.  
  
"No! NO! NNNOOOO!!!" Golemon cries as the attack consumes him and he is deleted. Golemon's data flies around where he once was and everyone cheers.  
  
"Yeah-hah!! Boom, bab-ee!" I cheer and my DigiVice activates and a voice comes from it. I hold it up to hear it better.  
  
"Possible Data Capture for new Data. Do you wish to absorb the data?" it asks me in an electronic female voice.  
  
"Sure! How do I do it?" I ask.  
  
"'Data Capture, Activate'," it responds.  
  
"All right!" I hold out my D-Coder and command, "Data Capture, Activate!" Golemon's data flies into the corner of my DigiVice where it looks like a hole where something fits. I then realise it's a scanner! Soon, all of Golemon's data is collected.  
  
"Data Capture is complete," the Digivice informs me and I see Golemon's data on the screen, "Data Captured Digimon can also be used for additional power."  
  
"Awesome!" I cheer again as Agunimon comes towards me and I look up to face him. I smile, saying, "Great job, partner."  
  
"You didn't so bad yourself, partner," Agunimon smiles back and De- Digivolves back to Flamon.  
  
"I'm keeping my promise forever, Flamon."  
  
"Same here, Tucker."  
  
We both smile and the others all come and gather around us.  
  
"Tucker, that was incredible!" Erin says.  
  
"Too cool!" Jake adds.  
  
"I'm so happy you're okay," Leah says and hugs me. I blush as I hug her back, "I thought we'd lost you."  
  
"You can't lose me that easily," I assure her. I turn to Charlie, "Hey Charlie! What do you think of that?"  
  
He looks away quickly and then looks back with, what I think is, a very slight smile. "You did okay back there, Takeyama."  
  
I grin big and all the Digimon congratulate me.  
  
"Nice job, kid," Tortomon says simply and raises his foot to give me a kind of pat on the shoulder, but since he's so big, I fall over a bit, "You're okay."  
  
"How can we, the miner Digimon of the Hito Mountains, every repay you for what you've done for us?" Mikemon asks.  
  
"Well, you could show us the way to the next area," I suggest.  
  
"Of course! Anything for the heroes of the Hito Mines!" he indicates us to follow him. A few minutes walk later and we're at another mine cart. He says, "This cart is the fastest way out of the mines and to the next area. Thank you for all you've done for us, DigiDestined."  
  
"Hey wait, just 'cause we helped you defeat Golemon doesn't make us the DigiDestined," I say as I climb into the cart, "We just helped out is all."  
  
"Thank you once more for helping us, then. I pray that we'll meet again," Mikemon says as he reaches for the switch to start the cart on its way, "Good luck in your travels!"  
  
"Bye bye!" All the Digimon wave goodbye as we do the same as the cart moves forward.  
  
"Oh, wait, one more thing!" Mikemon tells us.  
  
"What is it? And hurry!" Jake says.  
  
"Keep your arms and legs inside the cart at all times, 'cause it's a bumpy ride! Goodbye, heroes!"  
  
"Bye!" we all say as the cart moves even further forward.  
  
"Hey, what did he mean by 'a bumpy ride'?" Charlie wonders and we all look at each other. I look at where we're going and gasp with my mouth wide open.  
  
"What's wrong?" Flamon asks me. I point and he gasps too. All the others look and gasp as well. What we see is a long vertical drop, followed by tight turns, zigzag bridges, loop-de-loops, track jumps and anything else you could think of on a giant roller coaster ride. We all look at each other again and hold onto the cart and/or each other as best we can.  
  
"Here we go..." I say silently as we begin the vertical drop and we scream, holding onto the cart as the ride only begins.  
  
I just hope we survive this to make it to the next area.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
Ah, that was a good chapter, don't you think? Please review, it lets me know that you like what I'm doing and where I'm going with this. 


	8. Riding the Rapids

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own the idea of Digimon, or its characters. The FDD in the story, however, are my creation and are not to be used by anyone but me. Thank you. And now, we return to the story.  
  
Digimon X: Game 8-Riding the Rapids  
  
By DigiScanner-Shonen  
  
"Who's not dead? Sound off," I hear Takeyama call, sounding a bit bruised himself. We all groan in reply. I can't really see well in this light. Everything's dim and you can only guess where everyone is. Ooh, my back hurts.  
  
Who would've thought the track we were on would be unfinished?  
  
We had just helped a group of miner Digimon in the Hito Mines and they showed us the fastest way out of the mountains. It was a mine cart roller coaster heck of a ride. We just finished another loop-de-loop followed by a zigzag climb to another hill. As we rushed downward, the track curved upwards and then just...stopped.  
  
You can only imagine our surprise then.  
  
I stand up, rubbing my back to try and relieve some pain. As I do, I look at the others as they do the same. There's Erin, her red hair and clothing now partly covered by dirt, as she holds her arm. DemiFalcomon, her small white bird partner Digimon, helps to dust Erin off a little. Next is Leah, her clothes look a little torn, but in this light, who can tell? Her hair looks a bit of a mess, but I guess doing a ride like that can undo anybody's hair. Labramon, Leah's doglike partner, pushes himself off his stomach and goes to Leah, checking if she's hurt. Jake sits up, holding his leg and cries in pain. It must've gotten bruised or something. Betamon, the amphibian partner of the youngest of us, spills some water on Jake's leg to try and cool it down. Finally, there's Takeyama, our fearless leader, dusting himself off and going over to Leah to check on how she's doing. I'm not quite sure, but I think there's a thing between the two of them. Flamon, his humanlike partner, is right beside him, doing the same.  
  
I, myself, don't look too worse for the wear. I pull out my long-collared T- shirt to try and shake off some dirt. Dusting off each arm, I go over to Bearmon, my partner, and help him up.  
  
"Bearmon, you okay?" I ask him. He looks a little shaken at the jump, but otherwise fine.  
  
"Yeah, I'm good, Charlie. You?" he asks me back.  
  
"Same. So, Takeyama," I ask our leader, putting some bitterness on his name, "Where are we now?"  
  
"Give me a second, Charlie," he says, "Flamon? Can you use your flame to light the place up a bit?"  
  
"I'll try," Flamon replies and clenches his fists and looks like he's trying really hard to do something to himself. He's grunting a bit and after a couple seconds, he snaps his fingers and a ball of flame about the size of an orange appears in his hand. "That's all I can do right now, until I get stronger..."  
  
"Don't worry about it, buddy," Takeyama puts his hand on Flamon's shoulder, "We'll go with that for now. Just keep that light, okay?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Okay, so where are we?" Takeyama looks around, using Flamon's flame as a guide. The flame reveals that we are in a dome-shaped cave, the walls of rock stretching upwards to meet the roof. The floor is flat and smooth, but full of jagged, rocky debris. Luckily, we landed away from much of it. Flamon also reveals the cart in which we rode in, smashed up from landing on a large piece of debris.  
  
"Well?" I ask impatiently, tapping my foot with my arms crossed.  
  
"I have no idea," he replies and nervously laughs with his hand behind his head, scratching his cap.  
  
"Perfect."  
  
"Hey, what about your DigiVices?" Bearmon asks.  
  
"The D-Coders?" Erin asks as she helps Jake up and comes to join us, "You think they'll be able to help us?"  
  
"You'll never know until you try, right?" DemiFalcomon tells her.  
  
"Leah, you've been tinkering with your D-Coder since you got it a couple days ago. Got any info from it that could help us?" Takeyama asks Leah.  
  
"Yeah, actually I have. I'll try and pull it up on mine," she says as she pulls out her yellow device which she got upon finding Labramon as her partner. She toys with a couple buttons, and then her screen glows, "Got it. You guys just push the large bottom button to the right twice and then push the upper-most button, okay?"  
  
We all take out our D-Coders and do as she says. The screens begin to glow and the light kind of shoots upward a little and forms a three-dimensional rotating globe roughly the same size as the device, with land masses and oceans and all the other stuff that a world could have. There's a little blue glow coming from one of the areas on the globe.  
  
"Funky," Takeyama says in amazement.  
  
"That blue glow is a cursor," Leah explains, "Use the large button to move it wherever you want. But notice that there's a different glow, a red glow."  
  
We all do notice a red glow, separate from the other glow.  
  
"Highlight with the cursor then push the upper button."  
  
We all comply and the globe disappears, only with the area we highlighted remaining. It sudden is rushed up to, enlarging as it does. We see that the map has changed, showing the area enlarged. It has mountains, forests, canyons, rivers, villages. I see one of the mountains glow with the same red glow as before.  
  
"Do the same as before, and I'll explain the rest when you do," Leah says as she highlights the area on her D-Coder. We comply and the mountain enlarges and we're shown the inside of it. We see many light blue lights high up in the mountain, going back and forth, possibly the miner Digimon we helped earlier. Then we notice five different coloured lights in a lower part of the mountain.  
  
"See those different coloured lights? That's us," Leah points at the lights, "Each of the lights represent the D-Coder that one holds. I'm yellow, Tucker's red, Jake is green, Erin represents white and Charlie is blue. This is a map of the Hito Mountains, and it shows our present location. As you can see, we're close to the bottom of the mountains."  
  
"But where's the way out?" Jake asks.  
  
"Hang on..." Leah says as she looks at her map and judges everything where we are. She points past Erin and Flamon points his flame that way, which reveals a tunnel, "That way!"  
  
"Wow, Leah you're amazing!" Takeyama compliments Leah, "I could never figure out something like that."  
  
"Yeah, with good reason," I say and I appear to upset him a bit. Good thing that he's upset, I can't stand him. He's not only saved me from Dokugumon, but now Golemon, too. My debt's running up. I hate him for saving me. I hate him for being open with the others. I hate him for leading us.  
  
And I hate him, simply because he's Tucker Takeyama.  
  
Bearmon looks at me while we walk through the tunnel, he and I are taking up the back. "Charlie, you haven't been talking much since this trip started. Is something bothering you?" he asks me.  
  
"No...yes...kind of..." I reply quietly.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It's...Takeyama. He's saved my life twice now, and I swore to myself that I'd pay back the favour because I can't stand being in his debt. I'm not sure I can now."  
  
"Don't worry, you'll begin to pay back the debt soon," he says cheerfully, "We've begun to encounter stronger Digimon so surely one of them will overpower Agunimon and Tucker. Then you and I can step in and save them."  
  
"You sure?" I ask doubtfully.  
  
"I give my word as your partner. That good enough for you?"  
  
"Sure it is," I smile a bit, "Thanks, Bearmon."  
  
"It's what I'm here for," he smiles back.  
  
We continue walking for a few minutes through the tunnel. It begins to get lighter as we walk further. The tunnel also seems to widen out a bit.  
  
"We're almost at the end. Come on, guys!" Takeyama yells and begins to run headfirst towards the light with Flamon following him.  
  
"Wait, Tucker! I haven't analysed the area outside! We don't know what's out..." her voice trails off as she runs after Takeyama and I can't hear her anymore without following.  
  
"Jake! Erin! Stop!" I tell the others and they comply.  
  
"But why?" Betamon asks.  
  
"Leah's right. We don't know what's out there. For all we know, she and Takeyama could've fallen off the edge of the Digital World or something," I say to the others, "We need the map again."  
  
I pull out my D-Coder and try to remember how to activate the map again. After a couple unsuccessful attempts, I activate it and quickly use the map to get back to where we are now. It shows that the Mountain map stops just short of where we're going.  
  
"Argh! The map doesn't give me anything!" I growl angrily, clenching the D- Coder, "I need to check it out myself. You two stay here until I come back for you. I'll give you a kind of signal, all right?"  
  
Erin, Jake and their partners all nod.  
  
"Come on, Bearmon!" I look at my partner with a determined look and he had the same look. We run towards the light, not knowing what to expect. Just as we enter into the light, I start moving slow and everything seemed to be suspended. I've run into a DigiBarrier! That's what stopped Takeyama and Leah!  
  
A moment of passing through the DigiBarrier and I'm on the other side with Bearmon. I'm still in the light, it must've masked the DigiBarrier. However, after passing through, it stopped my running. Just as well, anyway, because from this point on, I'm walking. Bearmon and I walk further into the light until it becomes very bright.  
  
I shield my eyes for a minute then let them adjust to the light. I stare out into a large canyon, with a river rushing through it, complete with rapids, rocks and everything else a white-water rafter would love. There's a pass down to the river, with a kind of landing just a few feet into the river. This river looks like it goes on for a while as it stretches as far as I can see. There are some trees some ways away from me and a path stretches from the tunnel to the trees. The trees must lead to the landing.  
  
As I stop taking in the scenery, I cup my hands to my mouth to call out for the others. "Leah! Takeyama! Where are you?!"  
  
Bearmon aids in the calling as we walk towards the trees. After passing a few trees, I hear a voice call out my name. "Charlie? Is that you?"  
  
"Uh, yeah!" I say, not knowing if it's an enemy or the others. It might be Leah or Takeyama if they know my name, but it could be a trick. I look at Bearmon, and he is ready to defend me, "But who are you?"  
  
Leah emerges from the trees with Labramon following her. "Tucker and I thought you'd never get here. I take it since Jake and Erin aren't with you, they're back in the cave. You saw the canyon, right?"  
  
I nod in response.  
  
"Well, Tucker and I couldn't see any other way to cross, so we're building a raft to carry us on the river."  
  
"Takeyama's building a boat?" I say in disbelief, snorting as I do, "This I gotta see."  
  
"Not yet. Go back and get the others. We need everyone's help for this," she asks me and Bearmon and I go back to the tunnel. We pass through the DigiBarrier and fill Erin and Jake on what's going on.  
  
"Down a river of rapids?" Erin says.  
  
"Yeah," I tell her.  
  
"Sounds like fun!" Jake smiles, "Can we do it, Erin? Can we?"  
  
"Sure, Jake!" Erin smiles back at Jake and looks back at me with a questioning look on what we're doing. I shrug as we go back through the DigiBarrier. After we get out and I direct Jake to where the others are, Erin looks at the river and tells me, "Tucker must be off his rocker!"  
  
"That's what I've been saying this whole time, but will anyone listen?" I say as I walk with Erin, Bearmon and DemiFalcomon.  
  
"Do you think we'll survive something like that?" she asks.  
  
"Not sure. But then, with Takeyama, I'm never sure. But let's worry about that after we finish the boat," I tell her as we enter the forest where the others are working.  
  
"We need more wood!" Takeyama calls out to us.  
  
"Leave it to me!" Bearmon says, "Bear Claw!!"  
  
Bearmon's slashes leave the tree vulnerable to toppling. "I'll finish that! Beta Slugger!!" Betamon hurls himself at the tree and as it falls over from Betamon's impact, he yells, "Timber!"  
  
We continue toppling trees for a couple minutes and soon we have all the wood we need.  
  
"Do we want a particular shape, Takeyama?" I ask him.  
  
"I'm thinking square or rectangle, but first let's attach the wood to each other," he says.  
  
"Too bad we don't have anything to attach it to, like a rope or something," Erin points out.  
  
"Hey, wait a second!" Bearmon interrupts, "Trees have sap! And sap is sticky! Maybe we could use that to attach them together!"  
  
"It wouldn't last more than a few seconds out on the river," Betamon says, "I should know, I'm an aquatic Digimon and the water can get pretty rough sometimes."  
  
"Then what can we use?" Jake asks. We all ponder deeply on what to use for the boat. Then it hits me.  
  
"How about we can tie the branches together, like a rope?" I suggest, "True that the sap may not last long on the logs, but on the branches, there shouldn't be a problem. And the leaves could help, too."  
  
The others all think about this. They consider it and agree.  
  
"It's all we got," Bearmon says.  
  
"Not that we have much to work with to begin with..." Flamon adds.  
  
"All right, let's do it!" Takeyama says and immediately goes to work on the branches.  
  
First we pull the branches off, then we stick them together, end to end, like a rope. We then pour sap on the leaves and tie them to the branches. We arrange it like a rope, tying the branch rope to the logs. The boat is soon finished, large enough to carry us down the rapids.  
  
"Now the hard part is getting it to the river," DemiFalcomon notes.  
  
"Everybody carries the raft, no one person or Digimon does it alone," Takeyama says as he starts to lift the boat, "Come on, guys. Together we can do it."  
  
We all lift the raft and follow a path through the trees to a landing close to the river. We place the boat on the landing and take a quick breather, looking at the work we've created.  
  
"Wait, if we're going white-water rafting, don't we need paddles to control the boat?" Leah asks.  
  
"Hey, you're right!" Takeyama says, "Erin and I will go take care of that. Erin?"  
  
"Sure, let's go," she says as she, Takeyama and their partners head back into the forest to make some paddles.  
  
Bearmon and I go over to Jake, Leah, Betamon and Labramon as they look out at the water.  
  
"It's going quite fast," Betamon says as he dips his fin in the rushing water, "I'd say about thirty kilometres an hour."  
  
"How long does it go?" Leah asks.  
  
"Don't really know."  
  
"You can swim in something like this, right Betamon?" Jake asks his partner.  
  
"Of course! It's not easy, but of course I can do it!" Betamon says indignantly, "Aquatic Digimon can swim in any kind of water!"  
  
"Just to be safe, I wouldn't chance that, Betamon," Bearmon warns him, "If the water's going as fast as you say it is, you'd be downstream before you can say 'rapids'."  
  
"We'd better get the boat ready," Leah says as she goes over to move the boat and Labramon helps her, "Come on, you guys! I'm not doing this by myself!"  
  
Jake, Bearmon, Betamon and I go over to help lift the raft. It sure is heavier when you don't have Erin or Takeyama around to help you. My muscles strain to lift it as we move towards the water. Just a little from the edge, we set it down and climb aboard, waiting for the others.  
  
"Hey! You weren't going to leave without us, were you?" I hear Takeyama call as he, Erin and their partners come running down with the paddles.  
  
"I was thinking about it," I say in reply as Takeyama places the paddles on the raft.  
  
"Ha ha. Oh, that's so funny," Takeyama rolls his eyes, "Well anyway, we got the paddles, so off we go!"  
  
Erin climbs aboard, but trips on a stray branch and crashes into me. I catch her, albeit accidentally, and hold her a few seconds before I push her off me.  
  
"Ooh, Charlie's got a girlfriend..." Takeyama teases.  
  
"Stuff it, Takeyama," I say as I feel my cheeks turn a bit red, "I just had to catch her so she wouldn't get hurt."  
  
"So why'd you hold her so long?" Takeyama smirks.  
  
"Maybe I should be asking you about yourself and Leah. You two seem to have gotten quite friendly in the last couple of days..."  
  
At this, Takeyama, and I think also Leah, blushes. "Okay! That's enough! Let's just get going," he says as he pushes off the boat into the water and manages to hop on at the last second.  
  
"I hope this isn't anything like the mine cart ride an hour ago," Erin hopes.  
  
"Nah," Takeyama says as he grabs a paddle, "It'll be nothing like the mine cart. But in the case it is, keep your legs and arms inside the boat's area at all times."  
  
I grab the other paddle and he and I begin paddling to determine where the boat goes on the river. We actually seem to be doing good on the river. But then come the rapids.  
  
"Okay, here we go," I say as I take a deep breath to stay calm, "Everybody hold on!"  
  
The boat begins to toss and turn as we surf the rapids. Up, down, left, right. The others hold on to each other as best they can while Takeyama and I try to keep the boat on a steady course. We fall down a couple of small falls, but nothing too bad. Then, we see the rocks.  
  
"Whoa-oh! Things are about to turn rocky!" Takeyama calls out as he and I do our best to avoid collision on the rocks.  
  
_Rock! Rock! Rock!_ My mind's a panic, trying to avoid the rocks. _No, have to keep calm,_ I tell myself, _Keep calm or we're all in for a bad ride._  
  
The rocks seem to pop up from nowhere as we go faster on the water. Water splashes as we continue on our boat. The canyon walls seem to become a bit of a blur as we go faster.  
  
"Well, I guess I was right!" Erin yelps.  
  
"About what?" Leah asks.  
  
"About this ride not being like the mine cart! It's worse!"  
  
"Junction!" I yell as we see the river split into two at the sight of a large rock, "We go right!"  
  
"Right! Are you crazy? We go left!" Takeyama says as he puts his paddle in the water making a left turn.  
  
"No! We go right!" I say, putting my paddle in the water to make a right turn, "Who made you leader of this group?"  
  
"You just choose to follow me! Besides, who came up with the idea of the raft?" Takeyama argues.  
  
"Obviously not you! You're not smart enough to think something like this up!"  
  
"Guys..." Erin begins and we ignore her.  
  
"Yes I am! It's you who's the moron, Charlie!" Takeyama yells at me.  
  
"No, I'm not! You can't lead this group! You foolishly run into things headfirst! It takes planning to be a leader, too, not just reckless courage!" I argue back.  
  
"At least I'm not afraid to be initiative, Mr. Oh-let's-think-of-something- else-to-do-besides-fight! Fighting is the only way out of this game!"  
  
"How would you know? Not everything requires fists to do the talking! We could be here for a different reason like to show how fighting is wrong!"  
  
"And what about all the Digimon we defeated? Huh? We have to fight! We're the DigiDestined!"  
  
"Guys..." Jake repeats Erin, yet we still ignore the others.  
  
"Get this out of your head: we're not heroes, Takeyama! We're kids! We came here by mistake! We're not the legendary warriors who the Digimon have been waiting for! And there must be another way out of the game!"  
  
"Oh, you have another way out? I'd love to see it! Oh, wait! You don't have one, do you?!" Takeyama screams.  
  
"You know I don't! I'm just saying there's probably another way other than fighting the Digimon to get out of the game!"  
  
"The only way out is to get to Digitropolis! And there will be obstacles along the way! We HAVE to fight in order to get there!"  
  
"GUYS!!" Leah screams.  
  
"WHAT?!" Takeyama and I angrily look back at Leah.  
  
"Will you argue later? We've almost run out of room!" Leah points and we remember the junction rock, "Which way?"  
  
"Right!" Takeyama yells.  
  
"Left!" I yell back.  
  
"What? We're going right, like YOU wanted, Charlie!"  
  
"Well, we're going left, like YOU wanted, Takeyama!"  
  
Suddenly, we crash into the rock and we're all sent flying into the river. The raft is broken but I can only see it for a second, as we are sent downstream. I look around, trying to find out who else is here. It's hard with all this water, I keep going beneath the surface, then coming back up. I can't breathe too well with this.  
  
"Glub! Help! Please!" I hear a voice through my clogged ears as I look around for the source. I see Jake, splashing around like a maniac in the water just ahead of me.  
  
"Hang on, kid!" I yell and swim over to him. He grabs onto me and clings to me tight.  
  
"Charlie blub! Where are the others? glub" he asks.  
  
"We blub, must've lost them glub," I say as I swim over to a log from the raft, astray from the crash. I manage to grab onto the log and Jake lets go of me long enough to grab onto it as well.  
  
"Betamon! Where's Betamon? blub" Jake wonders.  
  
"Come to think of, blub, it, where's Bearmon?" I ask as well. I search around for them as we rush down the river.  
  
"There!" Jake manages to point to Betamon and Bearmon, swimming upstream, trying to reach us, "Come on, Betamon! You can do it!"  
  
"Easy for you to say!" he yells in reply as he and Bearmon manage to grab onto the log.  
  
"Did you see, glub, anyone else?" I ask Bearmon.  
  
"No! They must be, blub, on the other side of the junction!" he replies.  
  
"You mean Erin's gone?" Jake says in shock, looking like he's going to cry soon.  
  
"No, just separated from us, glub," I say, "We'll find her and the, blub, others."  
  
Betamon looks out in the direction where we're going and suddenly gasps.  
  
"What is it, Betamon?" Jake asks.  
  
"We're about to run out of river!" he points and we all look. The river just stops. All that's left is empty sky.  
  
"Not good!" Bearmon yells, "You can guess what happens next, blub!"  
  
"You mean a huge drop beside a waterfall?" I ask.  
  
"Yes! And here it comes!"  
  
"Hold on, tight!!" I say as grip the log as best I can and we drop out into the sky.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" We all scream as fall downwards. At first I can only see the sky as my back is towards the ground. I notice that the waterfall is quite large. I somehow roll onto my stomach and see the ground seemingly a mile away, but steadily coming in fast. My hair rushes past and I can see Bearmon falling a few feet away from me, looking absolutely mortified. I turn and see Betamon, a little above me, indulging what seems to be a kind of prayer. Then, I see Jake, below me, looking up at me with wide eyes, pleading to me that this is just a bad dream.  
  
Personally, I wish it was the same thing.  
  
The water finally meets up with us as I'm forced down into the water. I go down a few feet, and try to swim back upwards, but the current is pulling me to the side. A rock passes by me and I think that the rapids may just continue. I reach for the surface again, but another rock cuts my arm and the water mixes with my blood. It hurts but I try to keep moving. I'm almost there when I feel a blow to my head and everything turns dark.

* * *

My eyes open as I stare upward at a darkening sky. I hear the crackle of a fire to the right of me and I try to roll towards it, but I roll on my wounded arm and am forced to stay on my back.  
  
Bearmon comes into my sight, peering down at me. "How are you doing?"  
  
"Bearmon?" I ask him, "What happened?"  
  
"We fell, remember?"  
  
"Yeah, I remember that. But happened afterward?"  
  
"You cut your arm pretty badly on one of the rocks we passed on the way here. I cleaned it and bandaged it as best I could," he points at my arm and I see that it's been bandaged up with my bandanna. Man, that's gonna leave a nasty stain, "You had fainted after suffering a blow to the head, but Betamon managed to grab you before something else happened. I'm glad you're all right, partner."  
  
"Yeah, so am I," I say as I rub my head with my good arm. I suddenly remember Jake. No, Jake! "Bearmon! Jake! What happened to Jake?"  
  
Bearmon points to the left of me and I see Jake lying next to me and I notice he's got a nasty gash on his forehead. Betamon lies next to him, keeping watch.  
  
"The both of you lost a fair amount of blood in the river. Betamon and I did the best we could for both of you. We've collected some food for the night and made a fire. We'll both keep watch over you until you've healed."  
  
"My D-Coder. Give me my D-Coder," I tell Bearmon.  
  
"What do you need it for?"  
  
"I need to check where Takeyama and the others are," I tell him as he hands me my device and I pull out the map. Two dots, one green and one blue, glow on the screen, showing us our current location, "All right, we're at the side of the river. But where are the others?"  
  
I use the map to enlarge the area. I look around at the map of the area and see three dots, one red, one yellow and one white, on the other side of where we currently are.  
  
"Oh, perfect. They're on the other side," I groan and lay my head back down on the ground, "I guess we'll have to look for them tomorrow."  
  
"Just as well. You'll need all the strength you can get to reach them, Charlie," Bearmon says, "You can recover a bit by eating some of this fruit I found."  
  
They look kind of like mangoes. I take a bite and chew. It's actually quite good. "What? No special recipe? No secret spice?" I manage to laugh a bit.  
  
"No, not this time," Bearmon says as he gives me another one, "Give this to Jake."  
  
I turn over and see Jake. "Hey, kid. Jake, wake up, kid," I whisper and he stirs a little. He wakes up and turns his head to face me. As he does so, blood runs down his forehead.  
  
"Charlie? That you?" he asks.  
  
"Yeah. Here. Eat this, you'll need all the strength you can get, man," I say as I hand him the mango.  
  
"I can't reach it. I'm so tired..." he says.  
  
"I'll feed it to you," I say as I move the mango to his mouth and he takes a bite.  
  
"It's good," he says between chews.  
  
"Yeah, it is," I say as I take another bite of mine. We eat in silence for a few minutes, looking up at the sky as the stars come out. The sound of the crackling fire is calming as I rest my eyes.  
  
"Charlie?" Jake breaks the silence.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What happened to the others?"  
  
"They're on the other side of the river. Tomorrow, we'll go look for them."  
  
"Do you think Erin's okay?"  
  
"Yeah, she'll be fine. They've got Leah, she's smart and she'll figure out a way to keep them safe. And of course, they got Takeyama to lead them. I'm not quite sure he can, though," I laugh.  
  
"Why do you hate Tucker so much?" Jake asks.  
  
"..." I remain silent.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Takeyama saved my life twice. I feel like I owe him now, and I can't stand that," I admit, "But I'm not sure I can pay the debt back."  
  
"That's the only reason?"  
  
"No. There's more."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"He's...he's...just so open with you guys. He can express himself to you guys. He doesn't have to keep things bottled up inside, he can share them with you. He can be friendly and doesn't have to worry about hurting someone. He's brave, and has proven himself by defending us from Dokugumon and Golemon. He's just himself and he doesn't have to be anything but that. He can be himself without fear of not being that. I can't be that."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"My parents are divorced. I live with my father in Osaka, and visit my mother every weekend. I feel like the divorce was my fault. It probably is, too."  
  
"How come?"  
  
"My family was coming down on hard times. Mom and Dad didn't seem to love each other as much. The finances for our family was starting to not get up to demand. And they had me to support. I always loved my parents very much, but then they seemed to get more distant. They barely had time for me anymore because they were trying to make ends or usually arguing with each other. I felt that all this was happening because it was my fault. I also thought that my friends might do the same thing, so I distanced myself from them, hoping to spare them the pain. That's where I stand today."  
  
"We'd never do that, Charlie. We're in this together, aren't we?" Jake asks.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"So we need to be close in order to survive. My dad once told me that friends stick together. And so far, throughout this game, we've stuck together. So that means we're all friends. That means we'll never abandon you. We'll stick together through the tough times and the good times. Then, one day, we can all go home together. No matter how far you'll set us apart, we'll still be your friends."  
  
I look at Jake, with his eyes full of hope and friendliness. "And we're friends, aren't we?"  
  
I take in all he's said and I feel a tear or two escape from my eyes. I put my hand on his head. "Yeah, we are."  
  
"Good," Jake smiles and I can't help but smile as well.  
  
"Do me a favour?" I ask him quietly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't tell the others, especially Takeyama, about this, okay? I don't want them thinking I've gone soft or anything. I have an appearance to keep up here," I say.  
  
"Okay..." he says quietly and then falls asleep.  
  
I fall asleep too, but not without thinking one last thought.  
  
_At least, for a while._

* * *

I hear birds chirping and for a moment I think I'm back in my bed in the apartment in Osaka. I open my eyes and I'm proven wrong. The sky is just becoming blue and a mist hangs over everything. I lean upward and yawn. I check my arm and see that it's healed a bit. I wipe off some dew from the bandanna and turn over to see Bearmon, curled up beside me and snoring away.  
  
"Bearmon..." I shake him gently, "It's time to get up, Bearmon."  
  
"Mph...five minutes..." he says drowsily.  
  
"No minutes. Get up," I shove him and he opens his eyes. He yawns and looks at me.  
  
"Charlie? You okay now?"  
  
"Yeah, that bandage job you did was great," I say as I run my hand through my dark hair, cleaning it in a way of dew, "We'd better get moving if we wanna find Takeyama and the others."  
  
I turn over to Jake and shake him awake. "Come on, buddy. Time to go find Erin."  
  
Jake wakes up and yawns. "Erin? We're gonna go find her?"  
  
"Yeah, and Takeyama, too. Sooner we get up, the sooner we can find them."  
  
"Right," he says and gets up. I do the same and we both yawn and stretch. We both then look at each other and see that we're doing the same thing and laugh.  
  
"Did something happen between you two last night?" Bearmon asks.  
  
"Just some male bonding," I punch Bearmon on the shoulder, "Now wake Betamon up so we can go."  
  
"I'll do it," Jake says as he goes over to Betamon and violently shakes him awake.  
  
"I'm up, I'm up," he says as he shakes from Jake.  
  
"Great, now let's see where the others are now," I say as I once again consult the D-Coder Map. The dots representing Takeyama, Leah and Erin have moved since last night as they are moving beside the canyon where we were when we crashed, "Looks like they didn't fall down the falls. We gotta find a way to the other side."  
  
"Maybe there's a bridge?" Bearmon suggests.  
  
"I'll look for one now," I say as I search the area for a bridge or a crossing or something that will get us to the other side of the area. I see a kind connecting thing just a mile or so ahead from us, "Bingo! A crossing a mile ahead!"  
  
"Then we better start walking," Betamon says.  
  
"It'll go faster if we jog. Come on! Let's go find the others!" I say as I lead the others further into the area.

* * *

We've been jogging/walking for about fifteen minutes when we emerge from the trees where we were coming from. I spot the crossing just a few feet away from us. It's a wooden bridge, suspended by rope. It hangs above the river by a few feet.  
  
"Looks simple enough," I say as I move towards the bridge with Jake behind me.  
  
"It's never simple in the Digital World," Bearmon notes.  
  
"HA HA HA!! Who dares come upon my bridge?!" comes a loud voice.  
  
"See what I mean?" Bearmon gestures.  
  
A giant green monster with white hair, a large mouth, two black horns emitting from his head, red bandages on one hand and a black spiked band on the other, with the same pattern on the opposite feet comes out with a large, spiked bone. "Ha Ha! Puny Rookie Digimon and two new Digimon I've never seen before! My lucky day! I get to crush you all!"  
  
"We're not Digimon, we're human! But what are you?" Jake asks as I whip out my D-Coder and analyse the Digimon blocking our path.  
  
"Ogremon. An Evil Virus-type Champion Digimon. This guy sure lives up to his name, being so hideously ugly. He has two attacks: Pummel Whack and Bond Cudgel."  
  
"Hey! Who are you calling ugly, ugly?" Ogremon thrusts his bone at us, but we manage to avoid it.  
  
"We're warning you right now! Let us pass and nobody gets hurt," I tell Ogremon in a warning tone.  
  
"Oh, someone will get hurt," Ogremon says as he frees his club from the ground, "YOU!!"  
  
He brings it down again and we still avoid it.  
  
"Don't say we didn't warn you...Bearmon!" I look to my partner.  
  
"Ready to go!" he replies.  
  
"Betamon?" Jake questions his partner.  
  
"Lemme at 'im!" he says.  
  
Jake and I both look at each other and nod. We pull out our D-Coders and hold them out. "DIGIVOLVE!!" We yell and they begin to glow. The light from the screen hits our partners and they glow as well.  
  
"Bearmon Digivolve to..." Bearmon says as a small mountain of rocks surrounds him.  
  
"Betamon Digivolve to..." Betamon says as a tower of water covers him up.  
  
There's a fierce glow from both of these towers of nature that holds for a few seconds then an explosion that sends the rocks and water flying outward as two new Digimon stand in their place.  
  
"Grizzmon!!" Grizzmon announces himself.  
  
"Coelamon!!" Coelamon stands ready.  
  
"So, you Digivolved. You think that's enough against me?" Ogremon asks as he charges towards us. Grizzmon steps to the side as Ogremon brings down his club, "Pummel Whack!!"  
  
"You missed! I won't! Grizzly Slash!!" Grizzmon slashes at Ogremon and hits his arm.  
  
"Oww!! Ow ow ow! You'll pay for that!" he says as he faces Grizzmon and brings down his club again, "Bone Cudgel!!"  
  
It actually hits Grizzmon on the head and he howls in agony.  
  
"Ha ha ha! You can't beat me!" Ogremon laughs.  
  
"Oh, really? Fossil Bite!!" Coelamon launches himself at Ogremon and bites his leg hard.  
  
"Yeah! Go, Coelamon!" Jake cheers.  
  
"Oww!!" Ogremon screams in pain, "That hurt! Pummel Whack!!" Ogremon again whacks his stick at Coelamon, except this time it sends him flying backwards.  
  
"Grizzly Slash!!" Grizzmon slashes again at Ogremon with his back turned to him, only this time, he doesn't go just once, he goes several times, all around Ogremon's body.  
  
"Yyaaargh!!" Ogremon yells and he falls onto his knees and uses his bone as a prop.  
  
"This is your last chance! Let us pass and we'll leave you alone," I tell Ogremon.  
  
"Never! This is my bridge and I will crush anyone who tries to cross it!" Ogremon replies angrily.  
  
"Then you leave us no choice. Grizzmon, finish him!" I order Grizzmon.  
  
"Bear Blaster!!" Grizzmon fires his energy attack at Ogremon, who is hit badly by it.  
  
"Coelamon, are you strong enough to stop him?" Jake asks.  
  
"Yes! Ice Fist!!" Coelamon curls his fin into a fist that glows and then fires a volley of ice at Ogremon who is already weakened from Grizzmon's Bear Blaster. Ogremon falls and lays on the ground.  
  
"All right. You can go..." he says quietly.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you gave us no choice," I say as I pass him onto the bridge and Jake follows me. The Digimon begin to cross as well, but then Ogremon, in one last heap of energy, hurls himself at us.  
  
"Go to the place after deletion!!" he screams as he comes towards us.  
  
"Grizzmon!"  
  
"Grizzly Slash!!" Grizzmon slashes once more at Ogremon and this time, Ogremon does not attack again. His pieces litter the area as my D-Coder goes off.  
  
"Possible Data Capture for Data. Do you wish to Data Capture?" it asks me in its electronic female voice.  
  
"Yes," I say as I hold out my DigiVice, "Data Capture, Activate!" My D- Coder captures Ogremon's data and soon I have him contained in my D-Coder.  
  
"That's so cool!" Jake comments on the D-Coder's capturing.  
  
"It is. You can do it, too, once you defeat a Digimon," I tell Jake, "But I don't like doing it."  
  
"You had no choice," Grizzmon says, "He would've hurt you bad and I wouldn't let that happen."  
  
"I know, Grizzmon. And I thank you for that," I tell him as he De- Digivolves back into Bearmon.  
  
"After all, friends stick together, right?" Bearmon asks me.  
  
"Yeah, they do," I say as I look at Jake and smile. He smiles back and then I remember what we're doing, "Come on. We need to go find Takeyama and the others."  
  
"Right!" the others say as we continue across the bridge.  
  
Thanks to Jake, I know the others will stick with me to the end. Even though I may act cool, and uncaring, and a rival to Takeyama, I deep down really wanted a friend. Now I've got Bearmon, Jake and the others. They'll be there for me no matter what.  
  
Now my dearest wish is that I can do the same for them.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
Another chapter has been read and I hope you enjoyed it. Will Charlie and Jake reunite with the others? Will they get out of the area? And will the group ever get to Digitropolis? You can find out by sending me reviews which let me know you like what I'm doing. And look for the new chapter next month! 


	9. Jumping Jungle

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, no matter how much I want to. But the FDDs are mine, so no taking. Thank you.

Digimon X: Game 9-Jumping Jungle

By DigiScanner-Shonen

"JAKE! CHARLIE! WHERE ARE YOU?!" we call out as we walk through the jungle, looking for our friends whom we were separated with last night. It's not really a good idea to be split up, especially when you're in a game whose objective you have no idea is.

"I'm worried about Jake," I tell the others as we continue to walk, "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Tucker assures me, "Remember, I checked the D-Coder and it said that he's with Charlie. Besides, the kid can take care of himself. Remember how we got Betamon to join us?"

"Oh yeah," I say, thinking back to when Jake was kidnapped by Coelamon, the 'Swamp Monster' of Swamp Village. Jake had managed to point Coelamon in the right direction from where he was going and had Coelamon join us soon after. We were all worried about him at that time and didn't know what to do. "But I'm still worried."

"Like I said, Erin, he's fine. He's got that idiot Charlie with him. And Betamon and Bearmon are protecting him. He's perfectly safe."

"I'm still worried about him, even though I know he's with Charlie and is supposed to be okay. It's like worrying about a little brother."

"You mean you and Jake are siblings?" DemiFalcomon asks.

"Well, kinda. We're not blood related, but I promised Jake that I'd be his older sister while we're here and that I'd look out for him. I want to make sure that he's okay and help him through the Digital World. In that sense, I am his sister."

"It's kind of fitting, you're always worrying about the rest of us, but especially Jake," Flamon says as he turns back to look at me.

"Well, yeah, she is. But the only one I want worrying about me is Leah..." Tucker says as he turns to the other girl in our group. He looks at her and has a bit of concern on his face, "Leah, are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," she says, wiping some sweat off her brow, "It's just that I'm kind of hot."

"Well, this is a jungle after all," Labramon says, "And you're wearing all that clothing."

"Yeah, Leah. Take off your sweatshirt," Tucker says, "Maybe that will make you feel cooler."

"All right, I'll try," she says as she pulls off her yellow long-sleeved shirt and reveals a white tank top underneath. She's beginning to really develop in the chest area. I look at Tucker who's just staring at Leah now. Whether its her face or her chest he's looking at, I'm not really sure.

"Tucker, stop staring. It's rude, you know," I tell him in a matter-of-fact voice.

"I'm trying..." Tucker says with a bit of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth, "Just give me five seconds more..."

"No more!" Leah says angrily to him, her face red with embarrassment.

"Fine, I'm done," he says turning away from Leah with a heavy blush on his face. He sneaks one last peek out of the corner of his eye then focuses on where we're going.

I go up to Leah and whisper into her ear, "Maybe you should put the shirt back on."

"Nah, its hot," she says, swiping her brow again.

"You feel okay, Leah?"

"Not really. I feel kind of groggy, like something died trying to get out of my mouth. Plus, I'm kind of hot."

"How long have you been feeling like this?" Labramon asks.

"Since this morning."

"Maybe its some kind of DigiFever?"

"Is it bad?"

"Not really. It should go away by tomorrow. Unless its..."

"Unless its what?" I ask.

"Never mind," Labramon quickly says, "Let's just get back to finding the others."

I don't really feel comfortable knowing that Labramon's hiding something. Is what Leah has just a fever or something worse? Is he trying to avoid panic? Maybe he's thinking of a worse case scenario. Yeah, that's it. A worse case scenario.

The bushes and trees pass us as we continue to walk through this jungle, calling out for our lost friends. Now I'm not only worried about Jake, but Leah too. Why do bad things always have to happen to us?

Leah begins to cough as we call out Jake and Charlie's names for the seventy-fifth time.

"Leah, are you all right?" Tucker says to our intellectual team member.

"Yeah, cough, I'm fine. Just something in my throat, maybe. I'm fine, Tucker, cough, really," Leah assures him.

"I'm not so sure. Maybe we should break and get something to eat," Tucker says, "We can search for the others later."

"Sounds like a plan," I say.

"Leah, you just sit down and relax for a moment," Tucker tells her as he goes over to her and gently lays her down against a tree, "We'll get you something to eat and maybe then you'll feel better."

"Too bad we don't have Bearmon to tell us what edible around here," DemiFalcomon says.

"Thanks for reminding me."

"Hey, wait!" Flamon says, "I remember a type of berry I ate before I found Tucker. It's supposed to be nutritious. It should be growing in this jungle."

"Great! I'll go with you Flamon to get this berry. We get enough, we can have a snack and then we'll go on to find the others."

"I'll come too!" I say, "DemiFalcomon can fly up and try and find these berries."

"Labramon, you stay here and make sure Leah's okay while we're gone."

"I'll defend my partner with my life," Labramon salutes.

"Come on, let's go," Tucker says and he, Flamon, DemiFalcomon and I march off into the jungle to find Flamon's berries.

"So what exactly do the berries look like?" DemiFalcomon asks.

"Round red with purple spots. I've had a couple and they're delicious!" Flamon says.

"DemiFalcomon, fly up to the top of the trees and see if you can find what we need," I tell my partner.

"On it," she says as she flies off.

"Red with purple spots, red with purple spots, red with purple spots..." Tucker chants as he searches the brushes for the berries. I sigh, again thinking about the others and I can't help but worry.

"Erin, they'll be fine. Leah's probably just got a little bug and Jake's with Charlie. They'll all be fine. We just have to worry about finding the berries right now," Tucker says.

"I can't help it."

"Just don't think about it and you won't worry. Look at me! I don't think about stuff and I'm worry free!"

"Yeah, it shows," I tell him in a bemused manner.

"I'm just saying don't worry, be happy. Worrying just makes things worse. Now let's find those berries!"

"Yeah..." I say, half energetically. Not worry? How can I not worry about them? They're my friends! Someone has to look after them when they're not doing well and that would be me. But then again, they can take care of themselves, so maybe Tucker's right. Maybe not worrying will make me feel better.

"HELP! HELP US!!" A voice cries from out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Tucker turns around, looking for the source of the voice.

"HELP! HELP!!" the voice gets louder and louder. It must be coming towards us. We look around trying to find the voice's owner. A form suddenly leaps out of a brush Tucker was looking under and knocks both of them over.

"Ow! That hurt!" Tucker says, rubbing his head, "What was that for?"

"Huh?" the thing looks up at Tucker, "Who are you?"

"That's what we should be asking you," Flamon says.

"I'm sorry for knocking you over," he says as he gets up and bows in apology, "Let me introduce myself. I'm J-Moyjamon from Zonama Village."

I pull out my D-Coder and scan J-Mojyamon and get his data. I read it off to the others. "J-Mojyamon, a Champion level, Rare Animal Data Digimon. J-Mojyamon thrives in the jungle, where it is mostly found. These Digimon are rare to find and are an endangered Digimon species of sorts. His attacks include Jungle Punch and Jungle Kick."

"Why were you screaming 'HELP!' through the jungle?" Tucker asks.

"I was looking for help. My fellow villagers have become ill. I was looking for someone to help me save them. Maybe I can cure them with help! Please! Will you help me?" J-Mojyamon asks us.

"Sure, we will. Just let us get some berries for our friend."

"Berries?"

"Yeah, you know, round, red with purple spots?" Flamon asks.

"Sure, I know where to get some! They're up in those trees! I'll go get some."

"No need," I tell him and look towards the trees, "DemiFalcomon! Can you find any berries in the trees?"

DemiFalcomon flies down from the trees with a branch full of the berries in her beak, "Yeah, I did!" she manages to mutter out.

"All right! Now let's get back to Leah!" Tucker cheers as we back to Leah. We go through the trees, retracing our steps to find our friend.

"AWWOOOOOO!!"

"What? That sounds like Labramon!" Flamon says, "We better get back pronto!"

We pick up the pace, trying to get back to our friends. We run, hoping its not too urgent.

"Leah! Leah! We got the berries!" I call out to her as she comes into sight. But I stop running and gasp as I look at her, sprawled out on the ground, panting, coughing and sweating.

"No! LEAH!!" Tucker screams as he dashes over to her, "Leah! Are you okay? Labramon! What happened?"

"She started sweating and coughing a lot and then she fell over onto the ground," Labramon says sadly.

"We need to get her back to my village! Come on, this way," J-Mojyamon tells us and we follow him with Tucker carrying Leah on his back.

"So, what's wrong in Zonama Village?" Tucker asks.

"My fellow villagers started to get sick. It started a couple of days ago. It was started small, just one Digimon was sick, but then more and more became ill. Only a few of us aren't ill. I was sent to go and look for help and I found you," J-Mojyamon explains.

"We were looking for someone too, but we haven't been able to find them yet," I say, remembering Charlie and Jake.

"Erin, I said 'don't worry, be happy!' They can hold out a little longer. Helping these Digimon are more important now," Tucker says, "and Leah, too."

"There's Zonama Village!" J-Mojyamon points out to us, "We're almost there!"

We begin to walk faster to the village made up of many small straw huts. All throughout the village is a symphony of coughing. Leah joins the song with her own cough.

"Hold on, Leah. We'll get you down in a second," I tell her.

"W-where...are we..." she asks us.

"Zonama Village. J-Mojyamon here led us here," Labramon says to her, "We're here to help his village."

"R-really? I'll...help..."

"No way, you're resting," Tucker says firmly.

"Bring her to my hut, she can rest there," J-Mojyamon offers.

"Thank you," I say as we walk up to his straw hut. We pass through some hanging grass from the top and look around at the inside. It doesn't have much, just a bed, a table, a chair, a small cupboard and a bucket of water, all made of bamboo, straw and leaves.

"Lay her on the bed," he instructs us and Tucker lowers Leah onto the bed. She continues to cough and Labramon leans over to her, guarding her like a loyal dog.

"So what is it?" Tucker asks.

"It's the same as my fellow Digimon have. It's called Digititis. It's kind of like a fever. Only the person will continue to become ill until it becomes unbearable to stand and he or she deletes."

"Deletes?" I repeat, worrying again about Leah.

"NO! Not Leah! Anyone but Leah! Can you help her?" Tucker demands.

"Not at the moment," J-Mojyamon regretfully says.

"No! There must be something you can do! That we can do! There must be something! Tell me!" Tucker grabs at J-Mojyamon's fur.

"Nothing..."

"I refuse to believe it! There MUST be a way to cure her! I can't let her delete! I CAN'T!! There is a way to cure her, there must be! Tell me! Tell me!" Tucker shakes the Digimon violently, his voice edging on panic and sadness. He has tears in his eyes.

"T-th-there i-i-isn't!" the Digimon sputters out as Tucker shakes him.

"NOOO!!" Tucker yells and throws J-Mojyamon down. Tucker cries and pounds on the table. I cry as well, thinking that this could be the end of Leah.

"But there is..."

"What? What? Is there something to help her?" Tucker demands, trying to wipe his eyes.

"Well, there is supposed to be something to cure this, but it's a long shot. The ancient peoples of this area built a temple to honour the God Digimon. It is said that there is kept a record of all that went on in since the Digital World's creation. They encountered Digititis before and its there that the cure could be found."

"WHERE IS THE TEMPLE?!" Tucker demands as he grabs J-Mojyamon and gets right in his face.

"It's to the northeast of here, about fifteen minutes from here."

"Come on, Flamon, we gotta get to that temple!"

"Hey, don't forget about me!" I say as we begin to leave. Tucker however, goes back to beside Leah and bends over her.

"...you have to worry about Charlie and Jake...just forget, cough, me..."

"I can't do that, Leah. I can't. I won't. We'll get you that cure. You'll be fine. Just rest now. I'll bring it back to you. I promise," Tucker says with the utmost sincerity. He then gets up and walks out the door with Flamon, DemiFalcomon and I following him.

"Wait! It's too dangerous!" J-Mojyamon yells after us, "There's dangers out there! You'll get deleted for sure without a guide!"

"Look after Leah for me," Tucker says and he runs off to the northeast with the rest of us following him. I don't know what's at the temple, but hopefully it should help.

* * *

"Maybe we should've taken a guide," I say as we continue to trudge through the jungle, "How do we know where the temple is?"

"The D-Coder's got a map, remember?" Tucker says looking at the map, "And J-Mojyamon said to go northeast."

"Well, how much longer until we get there?"

"We've been walking for twelve minutes so it should be any minute now," Flamon says.

"If Jake was here, he'd be asking to play a game to pass the time..."

"Erin, how many times do I have to say it to you?" Tucker says.

"Well, the only thing I bring to the team is my worrying. I can't do anything else apparently," I say. All the time I've been walking, I've been thinking about what we all do and what I do is worry.

"You can do a lot of other things beside worrying," DemiFalcomon assures me.

"Show me. What can I do that can help us?" I ask. I suddenly drop out and fall down a small hill, tumbling to the ground and luckily land on a soft spot.

"Well, you can find things well," Tucker says as he slides down the hill, "'Cause there's the temple!"

I look up and see the temple. It looks like something the ancient Aztecs built, with the square stones piling up on top of each other. There's a large flight of stairs leading to the top where a kind of entrance resides. On the blocks are strange symbols that I can't read. It's wrapped in dark green vines, going around and around the structure.

"Well, let's get climbing," Tucker says as we walk toward the temple, "Sooner we climb, sooner we find the cure to help Leah."

"Right," I agree and we begin to climb. I notice that Tucker is wiping his brow much like Leah did a couple of hours earlier, "Tucker, are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine, Erin. I just need to get to the top to help Leah," he says as he continues to climb.

"Well, we've got quite a climb, so don't talk. You'll conserve energy," Flamon tells his partner.

The flight up the stairs takes quite a few minutes as we keep getting higher and higher. I look out and see the jungle stretch out before us as we get closer to the top. Soon, we reach the top and sit down, resting for a moment.

"Man," I pant, "That was...quite the climb..."

"Yeah...more than I...care to go...for again..." Flamon agrees.

"Come on...we're here for Leah. We don't rest...until we cure her...and the rest of Zonama Village," Tucker says as he marches off towards the entrance.

"He never stops, does he?" DemiFalcomon asks.

"Let's just focus on trying to find what we need," I tell my partner as we follow Tucker to the entrance.

"On the walls are the history...they're all in DigiCode..." Tucker mutters as we look at the symbols, "Can't read it..."

"Hey! Aren't these called D-Coders?" Flamon wonders, "Then they should be able to decode this stuff!"

"Hey, you're right, Flamon! Let's see...decode, decode, decode..." Tucker says as he fiddles with his D-Coder, "Here we go, D-Code..." he pushes a button and a light shoots out of the D-Coder and scans half the wall's symbols. I do the same thing with my D-Coder and soon we have the whole wall decoded. Words appear on the screen and we read them off.

"'A mysterious illness plagues us. We know not what to do,'" Tucker reads, "'Our friends become unwell and we know not what to do. We pray to the founders of the Digital World to help us in our hour of need.' Founders of the Digital World?"

"Maybe they're the equivalent of gods in the Real World," I suggest.

"What's a 'gods'?" DemiFalcomon asks me.

"Later. 'We have found the cure, thanks to our prayers. A legendary hero has come bearing the cure to this mysterious illness. He brings flower petals, decorated with green and brown, dozed in the dew of a fresh morning. Chew these and the illness is a thing of the past. We are saved thanks to this hero.'" I continue to read, "Okay, so we've got a cure. But where to find it? Any ideas, anybody? Tucker?"

I turn to Tucker and he's leaning his head against the wall, panting heavily. A cough escapes his mouth. "I'm fine..." he chokes out.

"Oh no, Tucker. Not you, too!"

"I'm fine. Just need that cure for...Leah. Maybe they have the cure deep inside this place. Come, cough, on."

"Maybe you should rest outside," DemiFalcomon suggests as we move with him.

"I'm fine. Just follow me, I'm fine. Cough."

"You sure don't sound like it," Flamon says.

"Really, I'm fine, Flamon. I'm fit...as a fiddle...hey..."

"What?" I ask.

"Why...is the cough...room spinning?" he asks drowsily and then collapses onto the ground.

"TUCKER!!" we scream and go over to check him.

"Oh, no. He's got Digititis," Flamon says.

"No...I'm, cough, fine...just need to go...on for..." Tucker tries to get up.

"You're staying here. DemiFalcomon and I will see if we can get the stuff for you."

"I'm not, cough...staying behind...I promised, cough..."

"Flamon, look after him. Let's go, DemiFalcomon," I say, going deeper into the temple. I'm trying to follow Tucker's advice, really I am, but now I can't help but worry.

"What's wrong, Erin?" DemiFalcomon asks.

"It's the others. I can't stop worrying about them. First Jake, then Leah and now Tucker. I don't know if I can't worry about them. They're my friends, I can't help but be concerned about them. And I've also been thinking about how they each can take care of themselves because they have something they bring. Tucker is brave, Leah is smart, Charlie is cool and Jake is hopeful. They each have a quality that helps them and lets them take care of themselves. Except me. I don't have a quality."

"Yes you do."

"What is it then? Humour me, DemiFalcomon."

"Well...uh...um..."

"You see? I don't have it! The only quality I have is worrying! And right now I'm worrying about what will happen if I don't get the cure back in time for the others!" I cry, trying to fight back tears.

"Erin, everything will work out. Just try and focus on finding the flower petals."

"Right...the petals." I say, trying to calm myself to keep from crying, "But what about the dew?"

"If it's in here, the petals will be draped in dew. The sunlight can't get in here so the dew will still be here. Besides, it's damp."

"You're right, DemiFalcomon. We have to keep going. For the others' sake."

We continue walking for a few minutes, as I look for the petals. I suddenly remember the vines and tell my partner to look at the vines. Maybe they have the cure...

"Hey, I think I found some!" DemiFalcomon says as she holds out her beak and pulls off a bunch of leaves, exactly the ones the wall text described, "Look!"

"You're right, DemiFalcomon! But we need some more," I say, pulling off some more leaves from the branch she found.

"No problem," she says as she continues to pick off the leaves. I pull out my shirt and use it as a basket of sorts. Soon, we have enough for the villagers and Tucker and Leah.

"Let's get these back to the village," I say as we head back towards the entrance. We run towards it and spot something a little bit away. At first, I believe it's Tucker, but I'm sadly mistaken as I come closer, "Wha?"

"Hmm? Who you, pathetic Digimon?" the shape asks.

"What have you done with my friends?" I ask.

"Friend? Is this that is?" the shape comes closer and it reveals Tucker and Flamon draped over his shoulders, both fainted, "Apemon think this food."

"Tucker! Drop him you smelly ape!"

"Apemon Apemon's name! You not like? You get whacked! Mega Bone Stick!!" the yellow haired Champion Digimon takes out a giant bone and swipes at us, but we manage to dodge, "Say bye-bye to friends! They be Apemon's food! Ha ha ha!"

He runs for the entrance and leaps out of the temple.

"DemiFalcomon, we have to save them!"

"Right!"

I take out my D-Coder with one of my hands and yell, "DIGIVOLVE!!" The D-Coder glows fiercely and sends its light into DemiFalcomon.

"DemiFalcomon Digivolve to..." A gust of wind picks up as DemiFalcomon glows brightly and the winds surrounds her. I'm forced to shield my eyes from the glow. It holds steady for a few seconds and then the wind bursts outwards, revealing...

"Falcomon!!"

"Come on, Falcomon! Let's go!" I say, climbing onto my partner and still managing to hold the leaves. Falcomon uses her feet to dash out of the temple and spreads her wings. Soon we're flying through the air. I look around for Apemon, hoping to spot him, "You see him, Falcomon?"

"Not yet! We'll swoop down closer to find him," she tells me, "Hold on tight!"

We descend towards the trees, just grazing them with Falcomon's talons. I look closer, through the trees to find that stinking ape of a Digimon. I see a flash of yellow to the right of me.

"There! Far right!" I call as she banks right and I'm forced to hold onto her with my feet only as I'm still holding the leaves with my hands. I see him flash again, only to the left of me this time.

"Left!" she turns left, following my directions. There he is again, except further right, "Right again!" Then he's over to the left. "No, left!" Wait, right! "Right!" No, left again! "I mean left!"

"Will you make up your mind? I'm flying just so we can go in circles, you know," Falcomon says with an annoyed tone of voice.

"I know! I'll use the D-Coder to hone on Tucker's signal!" I pull out my D-Coder and use the map to try and find Tucker's signal. I see the three-dimensional map and look for a red light. I see one, just to the right of my current position, "He's down through the trees, Falcomon!"

"Right, I'll go in for a landing. Hold on to those leaves," Falcomon says as we dive towards the trees. Falcomon folds her wings in and dives into the jungle, as we pass branches, vines and what not. Just inches from the ground, she unfolds her wings and we gently touch down onto the jungle floor. I continue to stay on her back and take inventory of the petals. I still have all of them, even after that dive. We march through the jungle, looking for our friends. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot Tucker and Flamon against a tree, Tucker panting and Flamon bruised.

"There they are!" I point out to them, "Tucker, Flamon! Are you okay?"

"Metallic Fur!!" a voice cries out and I turn around too late to see flying fur coming towards us. It hits the both of us and I scream.

"GGYYAAAAHHHHH!!!" I yell and fall off of Falcomon, spilling the leaves as I do so. I now have some cuts from the needles and Falcomon is injured, lying on her side, "No...Falcomon...the leaves..."

From the top of the tree comes Apemon, laughing at us. "You no keep up with Apemon's speed! You fall for trap with friends being bait! You so dumb! Now Apemon feast on food with no interference from friends! Ha ha ha!"

"You...can try..." Falcomon gets up and gets ready to fight.

"Falcomon, you're going to fight?" I ask my partner.

"You no hurt Apemon! Apemon hurt you! Mega Bone Stick!!" Apemon leaps off of the tree and takes his bone from his back and thrashes Falcomon with it.

"Falcomon!!" I cry.

"Wing Crusher!!" Falcomon uses her wings to try and trap Apemon but he escapes the trap.

"Apemon no fall for that! Metallic Fur!!" Apemon's fur glows and it fires needles at Falcomon.

"AAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!"

"Falcomon, no!!"

"You like Apemon's Metallic Fur? Here, have more! Ha ha ha!" Apemon fires again at Falcomon and she screams even louder.

"Falcomon, you don't have to do this!"

"I...have to...I need to...protect my partner...and her friends..." she says.

"Falcomon..." I say, trying to fight tears again.

"You said...everyone has a quality...that lets them...fend for themselves...let's them be strong...I just figured out...yours..."

"My...quality?"

"Tucker's bravery...Charlie's coolness...Leah's intellect...Jake's hope...You also...have a strength..." Falcomon tells me as she tries to get up and continue fighting, "You...care for others...that is your strength...Erin Hiwame...your love...for the others...and me...that is why...I won't...let him...WIN!!" Falcomon tells me as she leaps towards Apemon.

"You too slow for Apemon! Mega Bone Stick!!" Apemon uses his stick to hurt Falcomon some more.

"FALCOMON!!" I rush over to my partner now lying on the ground as best I can with my bruises.

"I'm...so sorry...Erin...I failed...I tried...really, I did..."

"Falcomon...don't go...please..." I say, crying.

"Oh, touching reunion! Almost make Apemon cry. Almost! Ha ha ha! Apemon finish you now!" Apemon yells as he leaps towards us.

"No...it can't...end like this...Leah...Tucker...Charlie...Jake...Falcomon...SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"

"Bear Blaster!!"

"Ancient Bite!!"

Two energy blasts connect with Apemon and he's sent flying backwards. I look around for the source of the attacks and find two familiar Digimon rushing towards me. Grizzmon and Coelamon!

"Charlie! Jake!" I say with tears of happiness.

"Erin!" Jake shouts as he comes into view and runs towards me. He comes up to me and hugs me with tears in his eyes, "I'm so glad I found you, Erin!"

"Me too, Jake. Me too."

"We don't have time for this now!" Charlie says as he comes into view, "Erin, let us take care of this!"

"All right, Charlie."

"More friends Apemon eat? Apemon eat some now, eat some later!" Apemon says.

"We'll pass up the dinner invitation! Grizzly Slash!!" Grizzmon slashes at Apemon.

"EYOW!! You hurt Apemon! Apemon supposed to hurt you!"

"That so? Fossil Bite!!" Coelamon launches himself at Apemon and bites him.

"OW! That hurt! Stop it!"

"Too late. You hurt our friends, you pay the price!" Coelamon tells him, "Falcomon, would you care to do the honours?"

"Gladly," she says as she gets up and prepares for her final attack, "But you better get out of the way, Coelamon."

"No problem," Coelamon says as he spits Apemon out.

"You can't delete Apemon! It impossible! You can't!" Apemon yells.

"Let's find out, shall we? Falcon Striker!!" Falcomon sends out her burst of energy from her beak to Apemon.

"N-N-NOOOO!!!" Apemon screams as he deletes and the data is sent flying. My D-Coder activates.

"Possible Data Capture for new data. Do you wish to Data Capture?" it asks me.

"You bet. Data Capture, Activate!" I command as Apemon's data comes into my D-Coder. I look at the data and then at Jake and Charlie, "Thank you for saving me, guys."

"Hey, we can't risk losing one another while we're here, remember? Besides, Takeyama here wasn't doing anything," Charlie says as he kicks Tucker gently.

"Tucker? Oh, no! Tucker! Leah! Guys, you have to help me find the leaves that spilled here! They're green with brown spots! They've been drenched in morning dew! I need them to cure the others!"

"They're right...here..." Falcomon says as she sweeps them up with her wing, "I got them all after the battle finished...we need to administer these to the others..."

"Thank you, Falcomon..." I say to my partner as she De-Digivolves to her Rookie form. I take her in my arms and cuddle her like a baby, "Thank you for believing in me."

"It's what...friends do..."

"Friends...and partners..." I say as I cry a few tears. Everything seems to get swirly and strange. I close my eyes and fall forever...

* * *

I open my eyes and get up. I'm sitting on the bed in J-Mojyamon's hut. I must've fainted from all the excitement of the fight. I look around and see the others looking back at me.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty wakes," Tucker jokes.

"Tucker? You're okay! What about..."

"I'm fine," a voice says and the owner comes into view. It's Leah! "I'm all right, thanks to you, Erin."

"The whole village is cured, thanks to your efforts!" J-Mojyamon says, "I didn't think you'd make it for a while."

"Well, we did. I couldn't have done it without..." I begin to say. Then I remember what happened, "DemiFalcomon! Where is she?"

"I'm right here, Erin!" DemiFalcomon says as she hops up onto the bed and into my lap, "I was just worried about you for a while."

"DemiFalcomon told us about what you were thinking while you were saving us. About what you bring to the team," Tucker says, "The truth is, Erin..."

"You're the most important member of the team!" Leah says.

"Without you, we wouldn't have found each other!" Charlie tells me.

"Without you, we wouldn't be here on several occasions!" Tucker adds.

"Without you, I never would've found a great friend and partner!" DemiFalcomon notes.

"Without you, I wouldn't have found a sister..." Jake finishes as he gives me another hug.

"Guys..." I say with tears in my eyes and my voice full of emotion, "It's just...I don't...I'm so..."

"You don't need to say anything," DemiFalcomon tells me, "We know."

"Group hug?" Tucker suggests.

"Why not?" I smile and we all get in for a big group hug. Even Charlie. I've never felt happier in my entire life. Having all my friends with me, hugging me to show our friendship and caring for one another. After a while, we break the hug and I climb out of the bed.

"Okay, now that that's over with, what do we do now?" Charlie asks.

"Well, we need to get to Digitropolis," Tucker says, "But I guess we need new directions now. J-Mojyamon, can you help?"

"Digitropolis? Hey! It's not too far from this area!" J-Mojyamon tells us.

"Really?" Bearmon wonders.

"Yeah! Just go east of here and you'll come to a DigiBarrier. On the other side will be a large gate. Go through the gate and you'll be in Digitropolis in no time!"

"Thanks, J-Mojyamon!" Leah thanks the Digimon.

"It's the least I can do since you saved my home and my fellow 'mon," J-Mojyamon says.

"That's great! You hear that, guys? We're almost home free!" Tucker says, "Let's go!"

At that moment we all hear a loud rumbling.

"...after we have something to eat," Tucker says, gripping his stomach.

We all laugh at Tucker's hunger. After all that, he's still hungry? Come to think of it, I doubt any of us have eaten, so we had better eat. But still, it's pretty funny.

I'm happy that Jake's okay. I'm happy that we're all back together. But most of all, I'm happy that I know I have a strength, something I bring to the group and allows me to take care of myself. And it's not worrying.

It's my caring for the others. My love for them brought me through to them and, in a way, brought them through to me. I'm thankful I have that trait and know that it'll get me through anything.

After we eat, we'll head to Digitropolis. And hopefully, we'll be able to go home. I'll keep my promise to Jake. We will all leave. We will all head back together. We will all go home.

If, that is, we can find a way back when we get there.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Ah, another chapter comes to a close. I hope you liked it. Will the group be able to find a way home from Digitropolis? Can they escape the Digital World? There are two ways to find out, dear readers. One is to look for the next chapter next month. And the other is...to review!


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